When You Have Nothing Left to Lose
by LupusIgnis
Summary: Sometimes when all is lost, a person has no choice but to become... an ANIMAL. Watch, as Harry finally breaks and turns his own world upside down. None will be spared in his mission to destroy the corrupted Ministry of Magic, who have betrayed everything Harry thought they once stood for. He will even join an organization that he swore to destroy to strike back at the traitors.
1. A Really Bad Day

**Disclaimer: I do not own any character's objects or anything else that comes from J.K. Rowling's ****_Harry Potter_**** series.**

**Warning: This story will contain scenes of violence, bad language, and maybe other themes that some audiences may find unsuitable. You have been advised.**

_**When You Have Nothing Left to Lose (Alternate Version)**_

They were dead, every single one of them. The worst part of it all was that none of them stood a chance, but they fought anyway. It wasn't a matter of skill or determination. It all just came down to numbers and one clever trick.

The plan was for the aurors to ambush the last group of Death Eaters and to finally move on from the war.

The only thing was that the Death Eaters had been waiting for them.

Harry and his colleagues had gone over the ridge and charged at the remains of the legacy of the Dark Lord Voldemort. As they arrived at the town square after killing off some resting minions, the real army charged them from all sides with far more numbers than anyone ever imagined.

As soon as Harry saw them, he knew that everything had gone to shit. He didn't bother warning anyone, for he knew it was too late. Instead, he started to cast his first spell of many.

Harry's partner was in the center of the fifty aurors, and after seeing the first of the dead fall, he barked out orders. "Everyone! Make a circle, and use your shields!"

Harry knew that the point was useless. Unlike his partner, he was at the Battle of Hogwarts, and he knew that forming a shield would provide no protection with the kind of tactics the Death Eaters applied.

A second later, Harry was proved right as a Death Eater launched a spell that tore through the shield charm the others had performed and then some. Before Harry looked away to face the enemy, he saw seven aurors immediately absorbed by the inferno, and another three torn apart. The aurors behind them were drenched in their former friends' blood.

Harry then turned away from his comrades and charged at the enemy. He knew that if he died that it would only be right to bring at least a few down with him.

As he bobbed, weaved, and cast, Harry had a strange thought come to him.

Earlier that day, he had awoken to have a horrible feeling about the day. His feeling was just, apparently, for he found Ginny was gone with their children. On the kitchen table, he had found a letter that told him that he was never around, and that she would never come back. She also wrote that if she had her way, he would never see his children again.

He had half wanted to stay at home and cry today, but he knew that he had to finish what he started in that graveyard at the old Riddle Manor years ago.

As his mind reflected on the morning and his body reacted to the danger he was in, a seed of hatred grew in the pit of his stomach. It continued to expand until the anger washed all over him.

A second after the hatred swelled, something inside Harry snapped, and in that moment he became an animal lashing out at everything that had gone wrong in his life. In reality, Harry was lashing out against everything that moved for he knew that everything that moved was trying to kill him. This was no longer about politics, justice, or finishing a war; this was Harry just trying to survive by killing anything in his path. Harry was a raging bull except far deadlier and angrier.

He could barely register the pain as some stray spells and debris hit his skin, but Harry no longer cared about any pain he felt. He had survived the Cruciatis, Killing, and Imperious curses. He had seen friends and comrades alike brutally die. Anything else in comparison was insignificant.

Harry had entered one of the apartment buildings and ran up the staircases until he broke down a door and reached a balcony on the third floor.

As Harry gazed out upon the town square, Harry's prediction came true. Almost all of the aurors were dead. If Harry had to guess, only ten remained besides himself.

Harry then started to cast once more. This time, however, Harry cast wildly in all directions down. Death Eaters flew around like rag dolls inside a hurricane. Harry, though, saw that all of the aurors were now dead.

Instead of giving up hope, however, Harry became even more infuriated at everything. His spells grew more and more wild and widespread but, as did their fatality.

Suddenly, Harry heard the sound of glass being crushed behind him, so Harry turned to find five Death Eaters coming at him with their wands raised. Instead of casting a spell in response, though, Harry charged the murderers, rapists, and thieves wrapped into one. An elbow to the face killed the first one he saw. The next was killed by a punch to the face, and the other three were dispatched with a spell that exploded right in front of them. Harry's own spell damaged him as well at that close of a range, but Harry didn't seem to notice the blood dripping from his chest.

Harry then apparated down into the Town Square but found only a few stragglers. He quickly killed each of them without warning. Harry figured it came with being a Death Eater and trying to kill him. Them being them was their warning.

There was one left, though, and as the Death Eater started to run, Harry charged and wrestled him to the ground.

"DIE, YOU FUCKING SON OF A GODDAMN WHORE!" Harry shouted as he pummeled the murderer into the ground. Harry continued punching until his arms would no longer comply with his mind. As Harry stood up, he noticed that his hands were covered in blood, a mix of his victim's and his own. He also suspected that his knuckles might be broken. He then looked up at a noise he heard.

On the ridge, Harry noticed people flooding down the slope.

"It's about time you got your arses over here!" Harry called, thinking that the other aurors had finally come to back up their now dead colleagues. It was then that he saw that each of them were not dressed in auror robes but in black ones. He also saw that all of them had silver masks and were raising their wands at him. "Fuck me."

Harry withdrew his wand from his holster. Despite his fatigue, Harry was still the animal, and the animal was going to do all it could to survive. Harry then did as he had just done on the balcony and cast violent spells all along the ranks of the incoming Death Eaters. A second later, the Death Eaters reciprocated his actions except that their aim was more precise. To counteract this, Harry put up a shield and walked along with it in front of him. This allowed him to exit back into the apartment building.

Harry did not rest easy, though, for he used as many locking and ward charms he knew to keep the Death Eaters at bay for as long as he could. He then ran up the many floors, locking as many doors between him and the path the Death Eaters would have to follow. Finally, he arrived at the roof. Harry positioned himself so that he overlooked the doorway but had some cover to duck behind. He hid behind some metal box that Harry didn't know the purpose of.

After a few minutes, the door exploded open with Death Eaters close behind it. As soon as he saw the first sliver of black inside the doorway, Harry cast as many spells as he could as fast and powerfully as he could. After about a minute, though, the Death Eaters were starting to apparate in their smoky way onto the latest battleground. Harry looked around and knew that he was surrounded with no hope of escape from the town. Recon aurors had set up wards around the town to stop all apparation out before Harry and the others had arrived. Despite this fatal fact, Harry just broadened his range of attack, spinning around when one Death Eater would get too close or shoot a spell at him.

"It is useless, Potter! We have you surrounded, and you are growing weary! I can see it by your normally perfect technique!" A woman spoke out from the crowd of followers.

"If you stopped looking at my body, you would notice that my eyes still hold a raging fire that will not dim! I'll kill as many of you as I can until my dead body hits the ground!" Harry shouted back before moving his wand in a wide horizontal arc while casting a spell.

Out of the wand sprang one of the darkest pieces of magic Harry ever used: fiendfyre. Although Harry had no control over the giant flaming stag, the spell served its purpose as it demolished many rows of Death Eaters. As the stag burned through the Death Eaters, Harry apparated to a far corner of the town so that he was in one of the buildings closest to the outskirts of the town.

When Harry landed on the rooftop of the other building, he did so with no grace as he fell flat on his face due to exhaustion. After a second, though, he rose from his position and began climbing down the ladder on the side of the building. The entire time he was scanning the air for the infamous black smoke, signaling the presence of a Death Eater apparating. When he reached the ground, Harry finally noticed a burning fire far away that told Harry that the Death Eaters were still struggling to put out his spell. Harry didn't let himself enjoy this revelation and began running toward where he knew the apparation wards ended. Just before he reached them, though, a black cloud of smoke barreled into Harry without Harry even noticing the Death Eater until she had impacted his right side. The two rolled off in two directions due to the slope of the hill.

While Harry struggled to his feet, the Death Eater quickly jumped up from the ground. She kicked Harry in his side, forcing him back onto the ground. Harry's wand slipped from his normally airtight grip. The Death Eater snatched it and stowed it away in her robes. She then held her wand up to the Boy-Who-Conquered's temple.

"Go ahead, kill me. I've taken out enough of you to die happily. I don't even need to know a definite number to know that I've crippled you filth more than just eliminating Voldemort." Harry whispered.

The Death Eater remained silent.

"Just let me see your face. I don't have anything left to live for, but if I get a chance at revenge from the afterlife, I'll make sure to come for you. If you're not alive if I return, I'll hunt down your family." Harry demanded.

Despite Harry's threats, the Death Eater pulled off the infamous silver mask and flipped over the black hood. Daphne Greengrass stood over the famous Harry Potter with his life up to the woman with the wand.

"You joined them after all I see." Harry stated more as a fact than a judgment.

"Yes." Daphne fired off a spell.

The next moment, Harry saw nothing but black.

**AN: When I originally came up with the idea for WYGNLL, this was what I came up with. When I started putting it onto the word document, I decided to have a nicer ending, so I created the other one. I decided to let this one have a fair chance as well. This is another oneshot than could turn into a multi-chapter story if it receives enough reviews saying so. As always, please review. ****_Occidere Prima Vel Occidi._**


	2. A Decision

**Disclaimer: I do not own any character's objects or anything else that comes from J.K. Rowling's ****_Harry Potter_**** series.**

**Warning: This story will contain scenes of violence, bad language, and maybe other themes that some audiences may find unsuitable. You have been advised.**

**_When You Have Nothing Left to Lose_**

**Chapter 2**

A throbbing pain made up his entire world, and it showed no sympathy, no mercy.

This is what woke Harry from the blackness called unconsciousness. Despite his awakening, however, Harry Potter could not see anything in his vision excluding the blackness that directly covered his eyes. If Harry was not in so much pain at the moment, he would have deluded to himself that somehow things had gotten worse for him and that he was in hell, but the pain was abundantly present in Harry's mind. It tortured him and clouded all thoughts. The pain would have restricted his movement if the chains and shackles already had not done so.

"Finally, Potter. Daphne was beginning to get impatient, and Merlin knows that I do not want her upset, even if it isn't with me." A voice cut through the toxic cloud that hung over Harry's body.

Harry tried replying along the lines of, "Fuck all of you. I hope each of you goes straight to hell," but in actuality, he just mumbled incoherently.

The voice cackled. "Look at the great Harry Potter now, huh? You're so weak and helpless without your friends. I can't believe you inherited the Potter fortune. You're a disgrace to the Potter name."

"Enough. Daphne wants to personally interrogate him. Go bring him." Another voice ordered. Harry's sense had started to return and now could at least identify separate voices.

"Why do I always have to move the prisoners?" The first person whined.

"One: because my duty is to guard the prisoners. Two: your job is to transport and sometimes watch the prisoners. Three: Daphne assigned you to your position. If my former points weren't enough for you, think about how Daphne will be if he doesn't arrive soon."

There was no reply, but a few seconds later, he felt and heard rushed movements to unlock him from his shackles. Before he could start to walk, however, another set clamped down on his wrists. Harry's arms had to hang low due to the weight behind the iron shackles. The first man then shoved Harry forward, forcing him to start walking in the direction he wanted.

"What, are you daft? Cast the spell first, you idiot!" The second man shouted, causing the first one to stop Harry.

"Fucking git." The first man grumbled quietly to himself before Harry heard him say, _"Sentit!" _before he could not hear, smell, or feel anything around his head. Harry was not even able to see the cloth in front of his eyes. Either of the men could have removed the blindfold, and Harry would have no idea that they had done so.

Suddenly, though, he felt another shove into his back, again indicating for him to start walking. After a few seconds, however, Harry tripped on the first step on a staircase and fell on his face. Thankfully, whatever spell the man had just cast stopped any pain from reaching his face, but the fall did worsen his headache. A hand then pulled Harry up by his right shoulder, forcing him back on his feet. A second later, he was being shoved forward again. Carefully, Harry began walking up the staircase with the man behind him pushing him forward and to the left so as not to slow down their progress. Suddenly, though, the man held Harry back by his shirt before Harry could take another step. The man then picked up Harry's right leg and moved it as if Harry was taking another step. Oddly, though, Harry's foot traveled down farther than he thought it would, making him realize that he had reached the top of the stairs. Harry picked up his other leg and set it down on the floor. The man then pushed Harry forward and navigated him down the hallways by shoving him the necessary way down the path. Finally, the man stopped Harry for a few seconds before he was shoved forward once more and guided into a chair, where Harry's limbs were tied down.

Suddenly, Harry's sense returned to him, excluding his sight due to the still present blindfold.

"My, my, Potter. You caused us much trouble, but all of it was for nothing. You are now our prisoner, and as such, we are free to do whatever we want with you. Nobody knows your location, excluding us." A feminine voice said. Her voice was extremely cold.

"I think I caused a little bit more than 'much trouble'. Did you scum finally put out the fiendfyre, or is it still burning up the town?" Harry smirked viciously.

"You are not grasping the deadly gravity of the situation, Potter." Daphne spat out his name particularly maliciously.

"No, you don't. If you remember from the hill, I have nothing left to live for; …I only have everything to die for. Do what you want to me because it will make no difference. You might as well kill me now." Harry calmly replied.

"You might not care what will happen to you, but I think you will care about what will happen to your family." Harry could hear the triumph in her voice.

"You still don't have me there." Harry's smirk grew bigger despite how horrible he felt about his family's deed. "They abandoned me, each and every single one of them. Ginny, James, Albus, and Lily."

"We can still take your friends." Daphne retorted.

Harry sat in silence for a few moments. "Even if I cared, what do you want from me?" The man had realized during his time of silence that now that he no longer had his family, he did not care about anything.

"Information."

"Like what?" Harry spat. "I might be known as a great auror, but I am not the head of my department! I don't know anything worth a shit! I might have saved the whole bloody country, but guess what? They still don't trust any of us like old times. With that, people being ignorant about how our country is doing, and the Ministry still being corrupt as fuck, I still might as well be in fifth year at Hogwarts!"

Daphne was silent as Harry panted from his rant.

"I see you have lost your faith in the ministry." Daphne said after a few moments.

"Of course I have! The way things are now, why wouldn't I?" Harry shouted.

Silence again. Then suddenly, Harry's blindfold was removed. Opening his eyes, Harry was thankful that Death Eaters loved their rooms on the darker side. His eyes were able to quickly adjust to the candlelight of the room. He couldn't see much of the room due to an object being very close to his face.

Daphne Greengrass was staring into his eyes as they adjusted to the light. "I have a proposition for you, Potter."

Harry sneered much like his old potions professor had.

"I want you to join us."

All of Harry's outer defenses immediately fell, allowing his shock and surprise to show. Daphne would have chuckled if she did not have to be so apathetic and did not want to lose the possibility of having the Boy-Who-Won be on her side.

"What makes you think I would ever be one of you scum. All you fuckers do is murder, rape, abuse, torture, and steal from the innocent, especially the muggles who don't even know what they did to deserve your cruelty." Harry growled.

"That might have been the case with our first leader, Voldemort, but times have changed, Potter." Harry eyed the woman standing in front of him with caution but could not help but be curious. "Since your victory over Voldemort, the remaining Death Eaters went through many changes of power but all of the early attempts were weak as only few grouped together. Towards the end of the attempts, however, Death Eaters began forming in different areas, but we still lacked a strong overall leader… until I came along." Daphne paused to reflect on her memories. "I had been one of the Death Eaters for six years a year ago and had always been present in the reformations since that time, but I decided to finally stop the pathetic attempts of regrowth and seize control. Since that time, I became what you see now: the strongest leader of the Death Eaters since Voldemort himself if not stronger!"

"As much as I find your whole backstory interesting, would you mind actually getting to your BLOODY POINT? It might have been scary the first few times when I was in mortal danger, but it is now FUCKING BORING!" Harry yelled.

A flicker of anger crossed Daphne's face, but it only lasted half of a second. "I was leading up to the fact that, under my supervision, the Death Eaters have reformed in more ways than one. You see our goal is to now protect our world, the wizarding world, from extinction. While there is a great debate among us if it should be through complete isolation or to lesser degrees, I am pushing for muggleborn wizards and witches to be allowed in at an earlier age than Hogwarts. This will allow the survival of the wizarding world but less violence than our first organization."

"While I think that is a great story, how am I supposed to, in any way, believe that? The DMLE is receiving more attacks from your organization each day!" Harry retorted.

"Ah, I thought you would bring that up." Daphne said slightly victoriously. "The problem with your accusation is that we are not involved in any way with these attacks excluding our name. We are being framed because we once tried changing the Ministry through peaceful talking."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked carefully.

"You see, Potter, the Ministry of Magic is setting up the attacks! They make a scene of devastation and use our name so as to lessen our support and dependability!" Daphne's words grew more passionate after the last.

"I severely doubt that, Greengrass. How could the Ministry pull that off without all of my department knowing?" Harry asked sarcastically.

Daphne nodded in understanding. "Your doubts are well-placed given your history with the Death Eaters, but they are unnecessary. Think about it for a second instead of automatically denying the facts. Have you not noticed how many of the higher officials in your department will act secretly? How some of the lowest members will disappear fro short periods of time before reporting directly to these officials? Have you not had your own suspicions that many know something that you don't in the Ministry? This is what it is! They know of your hate for our group and have used it to try and eliminate us in a more public setting!"

By the end of Daphne's latest small speech, all of Harry's outer defenses had fallen, showing the shock that rocked his entire mind, body, and soul. "They… they… used me?" Harry asked much like he would have when he was a child.

Daphne nodded. "Quite effectively as well, but now you understand that we can give them what they deserve! The sides have switched, and it is time for good to finally abolish these corrupt politicians and blinded followers! Join me, Mr. Potter, and I know that we can ensure their defeat! Join me, and avenge everything you tried to achieve when you first defeated Voldemort!"

"What would you have me do?" Harry asked.

"You would be my second-in-command if not my equal in commanding the Death Eaters when you became ready." Daphne replied.

"And until then?" Harry questioned.

"Training. You will adorn the cloak and mask, be trained in the dark arts, and be given more power than you thought you could ever achieve. The Death Eaters have been busy, Mr. Potter, and we have discovered many new advances in magic." Daphne waved her hand, unlocking all of Harry's restraints. "Will join me?"

Harry sat in silence for a few moments, thinking over everything Daphne had just said. Once he came to a decision he stood up and walked up to Daphne. Standing in front of the woman, Harry was silent. Each person stared into the other's eyes, searching for the slightest piece of information they could gain. A blizzard met a solid wall of emerald, and jade colored vines tried penetrating a wall of ice.

Suddenly, Harry swung his right hand around, gripping Daphne's neck. "You better not be lying to me." He growled, keeping a firm grip on the woman's neck but not strangling her.

"I'm not." Not even a wick of fear escaped her.

Harry nodded and let go.

"I'm in."

**AN: There you go, everyone. Despite the low reviews, I thought I would give this story a shot. I really liked the idea of doing something different from my other two stories but with some of the same principles. I would really appreciate all of my readers leaving a review since it does help give me more ideas for this story and inspire me to write these down faster. Also, I believe everyone would like to know that I will keep current news relating to my stories on my profile. As always: **_**Occidere Prima Vel Occidi.**_


	3. Looking the Part

**Disclaimer: I do not own any character's objects or anything else that comes from J.K. Rowling's ****_Harry Potter_**** series.**

**Warning: This story will contain scenes of violence, bad language, and maybe other themes that some audiences may find unsuitable. You have been advised.**

**_When You Have Nothing Left to Lose_**

**Chapter 3**

Susan Bones strode past the cubicles that led to her office. "I want Megan Jones in my office now!" She shouted before swinging open her office door and slamming it shut. She then paced in front of her desk, waiting for her aide.

A minute later, Megan Jones entered the office, closing the door behind her.

Megan Jones had fair colored skin with medium length, chestnut hair. She was on the thin side, but in no way looked unhealthy.

"Yes, Susan? You wanted to see me?"

"What the bloody hell is going on with Harry Potter? He goes and takes part in a Death Eater raid with fifty other aurors, and now, all fifty of them are dead with Potter missing! Do you know how impertinent it is for him to be found? Minister Corner is already barking up my arse with demands!" Susan shouted.

"Susan, calm down. All available aurors are out looking for that man. We can only wait for one of them to turn up something." Megan tried soothing her boss and long-time friend.

Susan sighed. "Try telling that to Corner. Let me know if anything happens that I should be briefed on. I'm going to try and see if I can get the Minister to stop breathing down my neck." Susan then walked out of the office with Megan in tow, but one went to the elevator while the other was lost amongst the cubicles.

Meanwhile, in the mountainous region of the United Kingdom known as Scotland, one of the Ministry's worst fears was coming alive.

"Why am I here? I expected to jump from one pureblooded manor to the next, not be in Scotland." A man with raven hair and emerald eyes asked. He wore an entirely black outfit consisting of boots, a pair of loose pants, and a robe that draped around Harry's body excluding his head where a hood was absent.

"Too easily could the Ministry send a raiding party while you are being trained and find out that you live." Daphne replied as they began to walk up the side of the unnamed mountain they were on.

"Oh."

The pair continued walking until they reached a plateau, where Daphne quickly stopped Harry with an outreached hand. "This place is under the fidelius charm. It is called the Scotland Mountain Hideaway."

Harry then looked in front of him to see the formerly empty plateau become a manor.

The manor was quite simple, having no frivolous features about it. The entire building was made of midnight black bricks and wooden trim with similarly tinted windows. Outside the windows, small platforms had been made to occupy at most two people. The manor was three stories high, including the ground floor. While impressive in size and menacing in color, the building looked rather ordinary compared to most other manors.

"It might not seem to you to impress greatly, but this manor is more than it seems." Daphne said before walking forward and toward the front door of the building.

"Milady." A Death Eater with his mask on bowed as soon as he saw his leader enter. He had a slight Welsh accent. Then the man saw Harry.

The man turned after closing the door behind Daphne and himself.

"Potter!" The Death Eater growled, drawing his wand.

"Hold!" Daphne commanded. The subordinate seemed unsure of himself. "I notified you that I was bringing a new recruit that would be my second-in-command after training. Who do you think the man behind me is?"

"But… Potter is Ministry." The man said softly.

Daphne growled. "Do not question me."

"Yes, milady." The Death Eater shrunk back.

"Now, I want you to bring… Harry… over to the tattoo artist to get the Death Eater tattoo I had Charles design especially for our newest member." Daphne had paused to grow used to her second-in-command's name. "Then, bring him to the tailor for his uniform. After that, bring him to the forger for his mask, and finally show him his room. Tomorrow morning, I want you to start training him. Push him as you would any other new member destined to become an officer amongst our ranks, but do not spite him for his past attacks on us, for without them we would not be what we are today in our growing glory."

"Daphne, I also need a wand. The one I've been using doesn't perfectly suit me. I've managed to adapt to it over the years, but…"

"I understand." Daphne nodded. She had heard the rumors that Harry had lost his wand back in 1997 when a snatcher had thrown away the already damaged wand and that he had since used Draco Malfoy's former wand as its replacement. Daphne then turned towards the Death Eater. "Before showing him his room, take him to see Wilbur in Knockturn Alley."

"It will be done, madam. Shall I have the house-elves prepare your room for you, or will you just be dropping off Potter?" The Death Eater asked as politely as he could.

"I have other business to attend to. I will return unannounced at some point in the near future to check his progress and to ensure that my soon-to-be head lieutenant is not being mistreated." Daphne said.

"Yes, milady. I will personally make sure of it." The Death Eater bowed yet again.

"Good because if he isn't taken care of, I will hold you accountable for any and all transgressions." Daphne threatened.

Underneath the man's mask, his face was the epitome of fear. Nodding her slight approval, Daphne turned and exited the manor without another word.

"You are a lucky one, Potter. I don't know what our esteemed leader sees in you, but there are those who deserve your position more than you, to say the least. People who have been committed to this organization for many years while you just came in and were handed your seat of power… but our leader has given me my orders. While I might not like it, you will be treated fairly, but know that you have much to prove to gain my respect." The Death Eater said.

"I understand and will do my best to… but you should know that I have more experience being in danger than any Death Eater you can come up with. I may not know the Dark Arts, but I am a man who had to become a fighter just to survive. Since my first year of Hogwarts, I have been in almost constant danger; so do not act like I am some inexperienced schoolboy who can't even hold a wand properly. I deserve more than you are giving me credit for." Harry growled back, staring into the eyes of the silver mask.

"Very well." The man strained before turning around. "Follow me." Without turning around to see if Harry was following, the Death Eater began walking deeper into the dimly lit building.

As with most pureblood manors, the interior walls were covered in a panel of wood. Unlike the outside of the building, the walls were a marble white, but still had no further details. Not a painting could be seen as the two navigated the apparently enlarged manor.

Finally, a staircase broke up the bleak features of the interior. Surprisingly, however, the stairs led up five floors with a landing allowing a person to access each of the five, but that was not the most impressive revelation that came to Harry upon seeing the staircase. As well as leading up, the staircase led to another many floors below the one the two were currently on. Harry could not count how many due to a lack of light at a certain point. While torches lined the walls around the staircase, only when a person approached did one light on fire, illuminating another part of the stairs.

Harry took all of this in as he descended down the first set of stairs. After reaching the second belowground floor, the still unnamed Death Eater led Harry off the staircase. After another few minutes of walking did the man stop outside a door marked "Tattoo Artist."

Without knocking, the man opened the door with Harry closing it behind them.

The room was much like the rest of the building with black walls but was much brighter to allow the artist to perform his trade easier. Opposite of the doorway, a plain wooden bench to sit upon lined the one wall. On the wall to the right of the doorway, another bench rested but was much wider and shorter, indicating that it was where a person would lay for his or her tattoo. Beside the bench was a person-sized mirror, allowing one to examine his or her tattoo. To the left of the doorway, there was a counter with many designs laying upon the top in an unorganized fashion. Behind the counter was a man who looked to be in his early fifties. He had gray hair that receded on both sides of the center at the front of his head.

"Charles, Potter is here for his tattoo." The Death Eater said.

"Ah, yes. Daphne told me that he would be getting his sometime today." Charles said, looking up from his latest design. To Harry, it seemed to be a bunch of jagged lines. Charles then swung around his counter, picking up a covered design along the way. "Come here, Mr. Potter. I'm sorry for the lack of comfortable seating arrangements, but our organizations funding is needed in other areas."

"No worries." Harry said softly as Charles had Harry sit down on the bench opposite of the counter.

"Roll up your left sleeve to the elbow at least please." Charles said as he uncovered the design.

A second later, the material of the robe was scrunched up around Harry's left shoulder, so Charles began laying the design of the tattoo on Harry's left forearm. The artist then removed his wand and mumbled a quick spell. Before doing anything else, though, Charles said something that made Harry curious.

"Black." The man had stated before drawing the lines of the tattoo with his wand.

"Why'd you say black?" Harry asked, looking towards the wall to his right. He had no idea what the design was and could not clearly see what was being outlined, so Harry decided to not confuse himself any further.

"It's the color I'm using. Now, please no more talking. I need to concentrate." Charles replied, pausing in his work but not looking up. The room then was silent once more.

After a few minutes, Charles interrupted the quiet.

"Filler. Black."

Harry guessed that all of the lines of the tattoo were done, but the design being engrained in his arm required parts to be filled to make it better.

After a few seconds, Charles switched to yellow but said for it to be smaller. After a shorter amount of time than the last, Charles switched to red and continued his work, which only remained for ten seconds.

"Ah. I think you might be done. Just give me a moment to clean it off and make sure." Charles said proudly before casting the scouring charm on Harry's new tattoo. Stepping back to admire his work, Charles smiled. "You are done. Go look at your first tattoo. I hope it'll be the first of many."

Harry rose from his seated position and walked over to the mirror, his left sleeve still pushed up around his shoulder. Looking at it, he saw the resemblance to the original Dark Mark, but the tattoo was much different from the one Harry had first seen on Karkaroff's arm back in fourth year. Like the original, the snake was in a twisted formation with a skull at the top. Harry's though, had a wolf's head instead of a human skull, and the snake was a basilisk, not a python. While it was still the same size as the python, Harry could tell it was a basilisk by the yellow eyes and from when Harry had been about to be bitten by the creature as it approached him. The basilisk's open mouth was open and facing toward all who looked upon the tattoo. The entire design was black excluding where Harry's skin showed through, the yellow eyes of the basilisk, and the red ones of the wolf.

"Why a wolf and basilisk?" Harry asked, turning to Charles.

"Daphne said that she wanted you to have something fearsome and reflected part of your past but still showed your allegiance to our organization. The basilisk is the king of snakes so I used it, and the wolf is your godfather's animagus form. I remember some of the first Death Eaters saying that he looked like a wolf while not a human." Charles explained. "Everyone knows that the basilisk's eyes are yellow, and I thought that red would make the wolf's eyes look more impressive."

Harry chuckled. "Sirius's animagus form was a dog not a wolf. Though, he did come close, I must admit."

Charles's eyes went wide in shock. "Oh, I'm so sorry. If you give me a few more minutes, I can change it. Just tell me a better depiction of him." He said in a rush.

"Charles, it's fine. I think he would have been rather happy to be called a mighty wolf for once instead of a mutt. Besides, the way it is looks rather nice. I wouldn't want to ruin it." Harry admired his left forearm.

Charles sighed deeply in relief. "All right… as long as you are sure?"

"I think it's absolutely brilliant. I wouldn't change a thing." Harry replied with a smile.

Charles beamed at the praise of a customer loving some of his creativity. "Very well. Feel free to visit me again if you want another."

"I'll definitely think it over."

"As much as this is all good and cheery, we still have other places to visit in the manor for today. Thank you, Charles, for getting it done so quickly. You are the best." The Death Eater showed some compassion towards the artist before guiding Harry out the door.

After going up a floor and again navigating the corridors, the two arrived at a door marked "Tailor." After entering a woman quickly and silently brought Harry up to a circular platform where she began taking his measurements. She then took her measurements into the back where she matched them with a design Daphne had requested for Harry. It consisted of a tight-fitting set of a long-sleeve shirt and pants made of a soft but durable black cloth. The material also made up Harry's cape that reached his shoes. The shoes covered a third of Harry's leg below the knee and were made of dragonhide. They, like the rest of the outfit, were jet black. They way the outfit was worn; the pants were tucked into the shoes.

Harry was pleased with the outfit after trying it on, so he decided to continue to wear it out the door. Tomorrow, though, Harry planned to wear his original outfit so as not to ruin this one.

The pair were then off again, but this time they traveled to the bottom of the building.

Unlike the rest of the manor, the walls and floor were made of solid gray rock. Harry guessed that the halls and rooms had been carved out of this stone. They passed a few doors made of metal until Harry's companion found the one he wanted.

It was marked: "Mask-Maker."

The Death Eater twisted the handle and pushed the metal with much force for it to slowly open, revealing a metalworker's smithy.

In one area, a fire roared out of a brick encasement with a pipe leading into a cabinet beside it filled with several melted materials in different containers. In another area, a pool was constantly flowing as a waterfall had been made from the side of the rock with the pool slowly emptying out into the floor. Another held an anvil with hammers of great size hanging on the wall beside it. An area had also been designated for mask designs so as to not have to remember for long periods of time what was being worked on. The last part of the massive stone room held a bed, a chair, and a cabinet showing off many decorated masks.

"Ah. Another one gets a mask, eh?" A man in his thirties with brown hair asked with a thick Scottish accent. He was heavy-set but seemed to be pure muscle.

"Yeah. Potter."

"Oh, Daphne told me you would be comin' by. I took the liberty to already make one. It gets tiresome having to make one to order and the wait is pretty long. I'll just need to see how it fits your face." The man then went over to a previously unnoticed rack of metal masks and retrieved one.

The mask was a dark gray due to it only being metal but still impressed Harry. It had many teeth on the top and bottom of the mouth that looked to be canines with small holes in between them, allowing a person to breath. Above the holes for the eyes, lines had been carved to make the face look angry. The cheeks flat along with most of the face, excluding the nose, which was more pronounced amongst the face but did not jut out. The only other thing about the mask that separated it from any other Harry had seen was that some of the top was missing. This would allow the wearer's hair to show. Overall, Harry liked the look of it.

"I see you like my handiwork. Just wait until the silver is applied. Now, just give me a moment…" The man placed the mask onto Harry's face, and surprisingly it stuck with ease. Despite this, though, the mask did not fit Harry's face by a slight margin, but that margin caused the wearer much discomfort.

"Just give me a second." The mask-maker took his work and applied a charm to the inside before refitting the mask on Harry's face. This time it fit Harry perfectly as it molded itself to his face. "Perfect." The man smiled before taking the mask. "Just give me a few moments to add some silver onto the top." He then began walking towards the cabinet beside the forge.

"Will it hold up against any spells?" Harry asked curiously. Recently on raids, the DMLE had been faced with Death Eater masks with strong wards that stopped most light spells.

"Of course." The man grinned, turning around for a moment before removing a container filled with molten silver. The mask-maker then wandlessly floated some of the precious metal onto the mask, distributing it in a fine but distinct layer equally along the entire mask. "I focused on that in school. I've always wanted to be a metalworker." The man explained as he saw Harry's curious gaze. After he finished speaking, the man floated the mask in front of him while he walked toward the pool of water. The man then gently submerged the mask in the water facedown. As soon as the water and molten metal touched, a cloud of steam erupted along the surface of the mask, cooling the silver and imprinting it on the mask. After twenty seconds of this, the man floated the mask out of the water and into his hands.

"Ah, perfect. Won't even have to reapply some more silver"

Harry then saw the mask as its maker turned it towards Harry. All of the details of the mask were enhanced by its new color, intensifying awe and fear felt when it was seen. The silver also made the mask seem to glow.

"I give you your mask, sir." The Scottish Death Eater announced as he handed Harry his new mask.

Harry slowly placed the mask onto his face, the mask automatically sticking.

"Impressive to say the least. I am glad I could come up with somethin' for ya." The mask-maker praised.

Harry looked at the other Death Eater and raised his eyebrow before realizing that the man would not see it. "Well?"

"You at least look the part." The Death Eater gave in. Harry nodded. "Now, I'm going to need you to hide your mask. While we've made the Ministry beware venturing into Knockturn Alley, they do still send aurors, and if any get away…"

"I know. Daphne will have your head." Harry said, venom dripping off his every word.

"She does not like to be defied." The Death Eater replied, remembering others' past punishments.

"Oh, man, up! I would imagine Daphne would seriously reconsider your position amongst the Death Eaters' ranks if she saw your cowardice." Harry growled.

"Yes, sir." The Death Eater said automatically in obedience with his tone. It reminded him much of how Daphne would act on occasion. A second later, though, he realized what he said, but it was too late.

"About time you showed me respect. I expect for you to continue in the same fashion." Harry commented before removing his mask and reducing its size with a spell to hide it away in his pocket. Harry then unhooked the chain holding the cape in place causing it to start to drop to the floor, but the mask-maker floated it before it managed to touch the ground.

"Sir." The metalworker said as Harry took his cape and did the same with it as he had done with his mask.

"Thank you…" Harry trailed off, imploring for the man's name.

"Creighton, sir." The man identified himself.

"Then thank you, Creighton, for you retrieving my cape and for the mask. I am sure it will serve me well." Harry said before turning to the yet to be named Death Eater.

"Trynt." The man said roughly.

"You'll have to remove your mask as well, Trynt. We wouldn't want to raise suspicion, now, would we?" Harry mocked.

"Very well. I will remove it before we reach the floo." Trynt strained to be polite. "Thank you, Creighton, for putting up with Potter." The man then turned and led Harry out of the smithy and back onto the staircase, where the traveled up to the top floor.

The top floor was different from the other floors for, while there were a few rooms, most of the space was a long hallway leading to a few rooms. On the sides of the corridor, though, many fireplaces burned, allowing many to enter or exit the building at one time.

"Wilbur's Wandcrafters is the place." Trynt said as he began taking some floo powder, but instead quickly unsheathed his wand from his holster in his sleeve and began swinging it towards Harry.

Harry, though, had anticipated his movements, though. He still had his auror sense: being able to tell when something was not right. Harry had already had a hand by his wand on his belt, and it took Harry less time than Trynt to point his wand at his opponent due to the shorter distance and his quicker reflexes. As soon as Harry's wand aligned with Trynt's chest, the former auror shouted, _"Expelliarmus!" _causing Trynt to be launched backward.

"I told you that I deserved more than you gave me credit for." Harry growled. "Now get up and take me to this wand crafter. You still have obligations to fulfill with this one being the second last of today."

"Yes, sir." Trynt bowed after rising from his splayed out position on the floor.

**AN: There we go. Chapter 3 was Harry starting to be outfitted for being Daphne's second-in-command and eventual equal. Next chapter will depict how the Death Eaters will train Harry. As always, please review so as to help me out. While I now have a strong idea of what to do with this story plot-wise, any comments are valued, questions will be answered to the best as I can without divulging any spoilers, and all complaints will be addressed and explained if you are not a guest. I prefer not to answer reviews in ANs. **_**Occidere Prima Vel Occidi.**_


	4. Striking Terror into Their Hearts

**Disclaimer: I do not own any character's objects or anything else that comes from J.K. Rowling's ****_Harry Potter_**** series.**

**Warning: This story will contain scenes of violence, bad language, and maybe other themes that some audiences may find unsuitable. You have been advised.**

**_When You Have Nothing Left to Lose_**

**Chapter 4**

"Hello, milady. It is great to see you."

"I have to say that is lovely to see you as well. Your teachers have been flooing me every evening, notifying me of your progress… I must say I am impressed." Daphne replied as she and Harry began to walk through the Scotland Mountain Hideaway. "How have you been treated?"

"Almost all had an initial period of resentment, but I am sure you expected that. I sure did. After the first day or two, though, all of them just focused on training me with most respecting me." Harry replied. He was dressed in the same black outfit he had worn when he arrived at the building, but he appeared to have grown taller. He stood straighter, prouder due to his new training.

"Do you feel as if anyone purposefully pushed you too far?" Daphne asked again. Despite the ordinarily caring nature of the words, Daphne spoke them as if bored and talking about the weather.

"No. As far as I can tell, they just pushed me a little past my limit… just what I would do to a trainee. The only one who continues to show resentment toward me is Trynt. Even after teaching him a lesson the first day, he has not learned." Harry answered back.

Daphne nodded, thinking. "We'll deal with him later, but first… I wish to see what you have learned first hand."

A small grin graced Harry's lips. "I was hoping you would say that."

Harry and Daphne then reached the staircase and traveled up two floors.

Unlike any other floor in the building, this one seemed to only have a brick wall with a door when you left the staircase. Harry arrived first at the door so as to open and hold it for Daphne before entering himself.

Inside, there was long stone walkway. On either side of it, there were many large, square sections filled with nothing or wooden dummies either fixed into the floor or onto a track so they could move. Some of the dummies had wands or something of the like such as battle-axes, but most did not have weapons or even arms at all. In between each of these dueling/training areas, the walkway sprouted another one so others could watch the people inside from any one of the four sides. To protect the spectators, a blue shield would automatically surround the area when someone entered. The shield would temporarily lower if another crossed inside. These sections numbered forty-eight in all, two sides, stretching down twelve sections for each.

Harry and Daphne walked up to the sixth section on the left. This one held eight dummies, each holding a wand and positioned on a separate track.

"Show me what you learned." Daphne ordered.

Harry nodded before his right wand dropped out of its holder in his right sleeve. Automatically, Harry caught the magical object at a moment where his hand fit perfectly on it.

Harry had received a powerful new wand from Wilbur the day after he arrived at the Scotland Mountain Hideaway. It had a mixture of Manzanita and Yew for the wood but had a black handle covering the bottom quarter of it. This made it look much like Draco's old wand besides the redder color of the exposed wood, as the Yew was closer to the cores. Inside the wand, there was hardened Basilisk venom covering a King Shadow Dragon's heartstring. The only thing about this dragon's heartstring was that it had somehow inherited the odd ability of lightning according to Wilbur. He said that he had harvested the heartstring himself decades ago from the dying creature.

Harry entered the section and simply said, "Begin dueling exercise. Difficulty- Maximum." Every spectator close by heard this and rushed over to witness Harry try to achieve something only their teachers' had accomplished on occasion, and they were veterans. The spectators, though, did ensure that they did not block Daphne's view. They already had been taught to show her respect before even coming here.

"Five… Four… Three… Two… One. Begin!" A stray teacher commanded. He was about to start judging two of his students in a duel, but all three of them had stopped to observe this instead.

The eight dummies whirred to life and began casting up shields for the others or shooting spells at Harry while all of them began quickly moving form one piece of cover to another as the boulders appeared in front of them. Harry began running closer towards the dummies in a random, jagged pattern, ducking incoming spells when his randomness failed to be sufficient enough. Before Harry could reach the first of the dummies, though, a large rift separated the two forces.

Harry barely managed to avoid falling in but then surprisingly jumped in, bashing himself against the opposite wall. Quickly, he found footholds and two handholds. Harry used his left arm to hang onto the cliff face while his right foot found a higher foothold, allowing Harry to peek up from below the ground and send out a silent spell. A second later, the piece of magic connected with its target and created a large enough explosion to eliminate the one dummy as well as four of its closest counterparts, obliterating the front half as well as another unlucky one.

Harry dived back into the rift, evading six spells sent out rapidly by the three remaining dummies. As soon as the last one passed, Harry sent out a shield above him on the ground. A few spells impacted it, but it held. Harry sighed before jumping back while still keeping his eyes and wand focused on the shield. Quickly, however, Harry unsheathed his other wand from its holster and cast an explosion below him that did not damage him but did still propel Harry up out of the rift. Using his legs, Harry managed to also go forward. This allowed Harry to land behind his still existent shield.

Automatically, all three of the dummies targeted Harry, sending a dozen spells at the man. Right as the last one started to impact his shield, Harry dived out form his piece of cover and hid behind one of the boulders used previously to protect the dummies.

Outside the section, the spectators were going insane in awe, jealousy, and disbelief. The teachers present, though, managed to keep their heads better than their students, only going as far to grin and whoop at a particularly surprising part. Daphne, though, seemed to remain as cold as she always had since her years at Hogwarts.

Meanwhile, Harry had already ran up to the first of the three's piece of cover and had eliminated the dummy while it rushed to get a clear line of sight on the man. The cutting curse had cleanly swept off its head, revealing the straw inside. Harry then cast a blinding curse towards the other two before coming out beside his latest piece of cover and ran towards the third dummy's boulder. On his way there, he cut off the second's head with another curse and slid behind his last target's cover. Just before Harry's line of sight on the dummy was broken, the man cast an explosive curse at it. Harry was just protected by the boulder.

Harry sheathed each of his wands as he stood up from the ground. Finally looking outside the area, Harry saw all of the students almost jumping in excitement. His teachers looked the same, but Daphne still was impassive.

The rift then grew back together and each of the dummy's remains or ashes was replaced with a fully functional dummy. Harry nodded his appreciation toward everyone as he walked back to Daphne.

"Please come with me." She said before turning around and starting to walk out of the room, not one glance was spared to check to see if Harry had followed. She knew that he was behind her.

The two walked down a floor and passed many doors, each adorned with a different name that automatically changed as its owner did, until hey arrived at an especially extravagant one labeled, "Daphne Greengrass" that rested at the end of the hall. Harry's was just to the right of it. Daphne entered first with Daphne closing the door behind them both.

As Harry walked in, he was slightly surprised at the setup of Daphne's quarters. When a person first entered, he or she would find themselves inside an office with two halls connecting it to the rest of the rooms. The office was fairly plain looking, with a leather chair behind a plain, wooden table being first seen and a larger desk behind the chair and pushed against the wall opposite the doorway. On the walls beside Harry and Daphne, tall shelves held a vast number of books of even greater knowledge.

Daphne swung around her table and sat down in her chair. Harry walked forward and stood between the two, less impressing leather chairs across from Daphne. She beckoned for Harry to sit down. He nodded and rested in the one to his left.

"I must say that I am impressed with your performance in the dueling ring, but why did you not use any of the 'Unforgivables?' Your teachers told me that you were taught and had perfected the three of them." Daphne showed much displeasure at the given name for the three curses.

"The Killing, Imperius, and Cruciatus Curses do not work on the non-living as you well know. I would have just exposed myself unnecessarily, probably killing me in the process." Harry replied.

"Just what I wished to hear. Now that you have been trained, it is time you and I started getting to work." Daphne said.

"What do we have?" Harry asked critically, ready to absorb every detail.

Daphne grinned internally. She had definitely chosen well when she recruited Harry. Then she began to inform Harry of the plan of which he was to lead in the field.

"Now, be warned. Your troops will probably show you little if any respect once you reveal your identity. I would advise that you deal with them before you proceed with anything else." Daphne finished.

"Who said that I would reveal my identity before the mission? As far as my troops will know, I am a shadow." Harry grinned.

Daphne nodded. Report back here to me after it is done. Do not share any details of what you just accomplished or did not on your mission with anyone besides those involved until you talk to me."

"Understood." Harry said before rising from his seat. "I will see you when we return."

"Make sure Magical Britain knows your name."

Harry nodded and then turned and walked out of Daphne's quarters and entered his own. Quickly, he went straight to his wardrobe and traded his casual outfit for Death Eater robes and mask. He then exited his rooms and dived down into the depths of the building to prepare everything for his upcoming mission.

"What the bloody fucking hell just happened?" Susan yelled, slamming down the preliminary report of the incident that had occurred an hour ago.

"Nobody is exactly sure, ma'am. I know that that report right there is not very helpful, but we are still scrambling to find out more. Right now that is the best we have. All aurors that were sent during the event were killed or are in such a delirious state that the healers are certain that we will not get anything from them, though they did seem more concerned about trying to save their lives if their rush was any indicator." Neville Longbottom replied.

"Any witnesses?" Susan sighed.

"A few people observed from their homes atop their shops. An auror that arrived after the event took place marked down their names so as to question them later, though he did say that they all agreed that Death Eaters were responsible for the attack." Neville answered again.

"At least we have that. Are aurors still on the scene trying to repair the damage?" Susan asked.

"There are still a few, but none are being used for that. The senior auror on scene ordered them to just secure the scene before clean-up crews arrived." Megan read from a page on her notepad.

"Make sure that aurors are sent to catalog any evidence that they can find and a few to round up the witnesses and bring them back here." Megan nodded and walked out of the office. "Everyone else is dismissed, except for you Neville. I need to speak with you for a moment." The other aurors in the room obeyed Susan's words and exited her office, leaving the former Gryffindor and the former Hufflepuff alone.

Susan sighed and picked up a bottle of Firewhiskey and pouring herself a shot. She looked up at Neville, the bottle hovering over a second shot glass. He shook his head.

"I'm going to need a clear head."

Susan nodded before corking the bottle and putting it along with the empty glass back into one of the drawers in her desk. She then quickly downed the liquid in the glass but did not swallow, allowing the alcoholic beverage to flow back into the glass. She then set it down and sighed. Finally, she looked back up to the still standing Neville.

"I don't like this. First, Harry is captured, and now this… event. It was brutal, even for the Death Eaters… and from this report," Susan stopped to tap the preliminary data scrounged together by some of the aurors, "it is like someone new has entered the picture. Corner will probably bitch us out and not due a thing about it except throw more money at us, not giving a shite about how to solve the problem, only caring about making it go away. Like usual, we'll try to use it to bring a stop to these attacks, but it just seems to disappear on us, affecting nothing." Susan sighed again and Neville joined her this time.

"We're in a tight situation for certain, Susan. I would have given you my resignation a while ago and become a teacher if I didn't think that you still needed all the help you could get."

Susan looked up at Neville curiously. "Really?"

"Hannah and I have talked it over many times. She knows that I really don't like being here and doesn't like me in being in danger, but she understands that it isn't a question of whether I want to or not or even safety, yet." Neville said the last word almost silently to himself. "We both know that as long as I can and am needed that I will be here for the good of everyone in Great Britain, magical or not."

Susan nodded. "I am glad to hear it. Hopefully, we'll soon give you a good reason to resign. We just need to find out who leads the Death Eaters and who this new person is."

Miles away in an empty warehouse, Susan's curiosity would have been solved as Harry had just taken off his mask in front of the men and women he had just fought with. They thought that they had forced him to do so through peer pressure after all of them had done so.

"You are fucking kidding me." A woman said, piercing the silence.

All at once, the others began sprouting obvious questions and insults, excluding a few who remained silent out of respect for the one who had just led them through a casualty-less win.

"Quiet!" Harry barked, silencing the ones who dared disrespect him by questioning or insulting him after what he had just done. "I cannot believe most of you are so stupid as to ask obvious questions that I was just about to explain. I thought most if not all of you were Slytherins?" Harry demanded. Those he had correctly accused looked down in shame. Every single one of them had been in Slytherin House. "As for those of you who dare insult me, I want, no demand, that you think about something. Who just led all of you through a successful mission with not even a single casualty? Who just tore through trained aurors as if they were children with toys? Who just struck a great blow of terror into the hearts of those inside the DMLE and likely the rest of the Ministry?" Harry's voice grew louder with each question until he was shouting his last one. Harry paused, though, and lowered his voice. "I did, so do not dare to disrespect me after what I just did."

"Now, let me inform all of you of how I came to be here… if that pleases all of you." Harry sneered the last part of his sentence. He mentally noted who flinched and those who had not performed any transgressions against him. He needed his own closer circle inside his troops.

"As many of you may know, the DMLE planned an attack on what they thought to be the last of the Death Eaters in a small, abandoned town. Your leader, though, was informed of this and sent only a few Ministry officials' family members to pose as resting Death Eaters. I was part of the force that eliminated them. Once we reached the center of the town, we were ambushed from all sides. I snapped and tore away from the group eliminating the ambush force while my former colleagues were killed. Reinforcements then arrived, and I continued to fight a losing battle. Daphne managed to finally stop me at the edge of the ward line around the town and actually captured me. A woke up a couple days later, and Daphne convinced me to join you in arms against the vile Ministry. I was trained in the Scottish mountains. If you ever visited that area as a Death Eater, you will know what I am talking about. After I finished my training, Daphne gave me this mission to lead. I am her head Lieutenant and am actually in charge of all of our fighting forces. You will show me as much respect as you do our leader. Understood?" Harry shouted his question.

The Death Eaters nodded.

"No, do you understand? I want to hear an answer?" Harry yelled.

"Understood, sir!" Harry's troops yelled.

Harry nodded his approval. "Now, go back to your bases for a debriefing! The commanding officer at your base will give you further orders!"

Everyone nodded and disappeared to obey Harry's orders despite the fact that each would first go through a string of places before arriving back at their base.

Harry was about to adorn his mask again and apparate away as well but noticed that the people that had been respectful to him had stayed behind. He only raised an eyebrow in question.

"Sir, we stayed behind to give you our thanks. If anyone else had been leading us, I doubt as many of us would have made us." One answered.

"Also, I wished to volunteer myself for a position as one of your lieutenants if the position is available." Another added.

"Would all of you wish to hold this position?" Harry asked.

All eight of them nodded.

"Hmm. Very well. I will talk with Daphne to see if I can open up the position for at least one of you."

"Thank you so much, sir. None of us would ever let you down, especially not me." One who had not already spoken replied, bowing.

"I said I would talk with our leader about it. That does not mean she will approve, and I will stick by her decision either way. Leave your name with me, though, in case Daphne approves and I wish to contact you so as to notify you of your new position." Harry said. After memorizing each of the eight's names. He spoke again. "Good. Now, go!"

The eight nodded and apparated away in puffs of black smoke.

Harry then put his mask back on and apparated to various buildings until apparating back to the Scotland Mountain Hideaway. As soon as he exited the floo, Harry turned and walked down the hall and onto the staircase, going down three floors. He then exited the staircase and went straight up to Daphne's door. He gave a quick knock before waiting fifteen seconds for the door to be answered.

Daphne opened it and quickly beckoned Harry inside, allowing him to close the door again. She went back to sit behind her desk while Harry took the liberty to sit down across from her in the left chair.

"I hear that your mission was a full success. There is already much chatter and confusion over what happened in Diagon Alley a few hours ago." Daphne said.

"Yes. We accomplished every part of it. Barely any aurors survived while we were there and the ones that did will not be talking or doing much of anything for a long time. My only regret is that the damage will eventually be covered up." Harry replied.

"You will have many more chances to put it up, Harry. Do not worry. Plus, you will soon be dealing more physically damaging blows than just psychological warfare." Daphne said.

"That is good to hear."

"How did your troops react to your identity?" Daphne asked.

"Most asked stupid questions or insulted me, but eight remained silent. Those eight actually stayed behind to offer up their willingness to serve as my lieutenant." Harry answered.

"Hmm… very interesting. Who were these eight?"

Harry quickly gave Daphne each of their names.

"Two of those always try to be respectful and kiss arse just so they could achieve a higher rank. Thankfully, it has only worked for each of them once and not for long. The others, though, could be valuable assets. A few have done some great things for us but have chosen to remain in the lower ranks. You must have impressed them." Daphne informed.

Harry nodded. "Do I have your permission to hire them then?"

"You want to recruit all of them?" Daphne asked.

Harry nodded. "I am going to need friends like them. You being our leader cannot always get involved with disputes in the lower ranks. I can do that easier with lieutenants of my own."

"Good. Notify them, but you will be the one responsible for their actions. I am glad that you are stepping up in your role as my second-in-command, but I must still maintain my own seat of power." Daphne replied.

"I understand, Daphne. I will ensure that they know so and will not do anything unbecoming of people in their position. Thank you for this. Is there anything else you need of me for the time being?" Harry asked.

"No, but I would like to comment on your outfit. It suits you and your new position well. How do you like your mark?" Daphne allowed herself to be slightly friendlier to her second-in-command. He had great promise to one day maybe be more, and she knew that she would need to be by his side.

Harry had already stood up. He gave her a wide grin.

"I love it, especially etched into the side of Diagon Alley."

Harry then turned and walked out of Daphne's quarters to head to the owlery on the second highest floor. There he sent out six owls, each holding a letter accepting the receiver as one of his lieutenants as well as a request for each of them to meet Harry at a safe house in a few days to discuss the details. There was a desk with plenty of parchment, ink, and quills to last a week, more than enough for Harry. The house-elves restocked it at the end of each week.

Harry watched the six barn owls depart and shook his head with a smile on his face, thinking the same thought as Daphne was at that same moment unbeknownst to either.

"I am going to places I never thought I would go."

Only to one of them was this a surprise as the other had observed Harry on occasion, giving in slightly to her affection towards the boy who grew to become a man but never fully. Daphne could never afford to let her emotions slip inside Hogwarts. Another Slytherin would eventually find out if she did, and Daphne would lose almost all of her power inside the school. With Harry automatically dating Ginerva once more after the Battle of Hogwarts and eventually marrying her, Daphne's heart had gone cold and hard to stop any pain she felt, making her icy persona real and making her one of the best Death Eaters around when she decided to join. When Harry and her had met for the first time, she did not know that her oldest crush was also a great threat at that same time, eliminating many of her troops all at once. She had convinced herself and everyone else that she captured Harry for interrogational purposes but part of her did so, hoping he would turn. That part knew that it was nearly impossible so it didn't back itself much. Still, another part of Daphne captured the man for revenge against him never noticing her over seven years. When Harry had told Daphne, though, about his hatred for the miserable Ministry and his family's betrayal, the second came to life once more and fueled the fake reason that allowed Harry to be close to her for the first time.

Daphne knew that Harry didn't love her, and she wasn't so sure that she loved him. This plan, this partnership, though would be the best way to find out. Even if they didn't, Daphne still obtained a strong lieutenant, and if they did… Daphne did not want to get her hopes up and risk her heart breaking. To Daphne, having a heart of stone was better than a soft, broken one. At least you could live with stone.

**AN: Thought I would delve into the past a bit more with this chapter but not give away everything yet, just fill in a few spots to also build up the characters. Hope you didn't find it too boring, but in my opinion, a mystery chapter in a book is always great if written right. If you found a section of this particularly good or you have thoughts about this chapter, another one, or the entire story overall, feel free to leave your thoughts in a review. If you have a question, feel free to comment in a review. The reason for this is that I think that if one person is asking, then there must be others with the same question as well. I'll try to get back to you, though, as soon as I can. **_**Occidere Prima Vel Occidi.**_


	5. More Bangs Than One

**Disclaimer: I do not own any character's objects or anything else that comes from J.K. Rowling's ****_Harry Potter_**** series.**

**Warning: This story will contain scenes of violence, bad language, and maybe other themes that some audiences may find unsuitable. You have been advised.**

**_When You Have Nothing Left to Lose_**

**Chapter 5**

"You ready, lieutenant?" Daphne asked as she and Harry stood outside a pair of wooden double doors. Daphne was dressed in her usual outfit of a flowing black robe that went down to cover the top of her black shoes and up to cover most of her chest. Harry wore his now usual outfit that had previously been reserved for the field. Neither of them was currently wearing a mask.

Harry nodded.

"Good. Now, brace yourself. The side of the Death Eaters you have seen is much different from this one." Daphne replied.

Harry nodded again. "After what I have been through, this will be nothing."

Daphne actually chuckled lightly. "Just what I wished to hear," she paused a moment and grew serious again, "but do not underestimate any of the people in there. They could make or break you as well as me."

"I understand."

Daphne nodded, and Harry opened the door.

Inside the room, there was a large circular table with eleven seats. Facing the door was the largest seat, and beside it was a slightly smaller but still more extravagant chair than any other in the room.

"Ah, Daphne. I assume this is the lieutenant you have been informing us has been creating chaos for the Ministry?" An elder man asked from his seat as Harry followed Daphne in.

"Yes, Gregory. This is Mr. Potter." Daphne replied as she walked to her seat.

Gregory nodded, joining the others in silence as Daphne sat down in her chair. Harry stood to her right by the empty chair.

Daphne noticed this and said, "You may sit, Lieutenant."

Harry nodded thankfully and sat down in the chair.

Daphne looked each member of her inner circle over carefully. Each looked disapproving of Harry.

"If any of you have any questions over my choice of a lieutenant, I demand you to think over what he has accomplished for us so far and to let reason prevail over your clouding minds. Prejudice has forced us into the mess we are in now; prejudice will do nothing but force us into the shite further."

The nine Death Eaters absorbed her words quickly and looked down in shame.

"Our apologies, Milady. We'll be more open in the future." One spoke, though it did not seem completely genuine to Harry.

"In a week, I have struck at the Ministry twenty-eight times; each time further lowering their numbers and sending the masses into worry and panic. Not a single time has a single member of my forces fallen. I would call that the turning point in our fight against the Ministry." Harry shouted.

"You're saying you wish to go to war?" A woman asked disbelievingly. "You are insane!"

"He actually has a point, Sophia. The moral of our troops have never been higher. If we could just strengthen our numbers, then we might be able to start a war instead of this filthy guerilla warfare." Gregory replied.

Daphne grinned cruelly. "It looks like I have turned a few into believers. That is good to know as it is so troublesome replacing an entire inner circle." The few who still did not seem to like Harry's idea automatically appeared to concede.

Harry grinned mentally and thought, 'Just as she planned.'

"We'll step up recruitment posts." A man said.

"No, we need to do something else. We need something that will create a bang and bring in much more people at one time as well as further on." Another replied.

"How about we let your lieutenant perform that bang? Already they are calling him the Shadow Wolf. Who better to draw in a bigger crowd?" Gregory offered.

"Yes, and that way none of us are truly at risk. While I do concede that a war is the best option, I think that protecting this circle is imperative, and what better protection is there than secrecy?" Sophia agreed.

Daphne nodded slowly. "George, prepare your troops to set up much more recruitment posts, and start spreading the word further of a new Death Eater force. Hopefully, that will be enough."

"What do you mean, Milady?" Another woman asked.

Daphne sighed. "I fear that many people will not join us if they think we still stand for the same message Voldemort left the world with. People does not accept an anti-muggle view anymore."

"She's right." Gregory sighed as well. The entire room looked down, depressed.

Daphne then looked up, struck with an idea. "I do not believe we are really anti-muggle anymore. We just wish to preserve the pureblood culture."

"Yes! We could still separate the muggle and wizarding worlds without hurting the muggles in any real way, amassing more people!" Sophia realized.

"What about the muggleborns, though?" A man asked.

"In a few generations, the wizarding world would almost be extinct with the amount of lost magic if we exclude the muggleborns." A woman predicted.

"So we cannot exclude them. How about we find muggleborns early in life using various methods and raise them here in the wizarding world by volunteer families? These muggleborns will be raised like any other child, eliminating most resistance movements before they can even start." Harry finally revealed the plan that Daphne had created.

Before the two had even appeared at the hidden headquarters of the Death Eaters, Daphne had planned the entire meeting so they did not appear as pariahs amongst the Inner Circle.

"That could work." Gregory thought aloud.

"It will bring more troops and can be accepted by a broad audience." Another man agreed.

"Are we all in agreement then? Our new mission statement will be isolation instead of annihilation?" Daphne asked the room's occupants. She received a nod from everyone. "Good. George, get to work spreading it amongst ourselves but hold off on the recruitment posts. We do not wish to reveal this before we initiate Project Bang. In the meantime, I want everyone preparing the troops for war and a sudden increase in troops. Is that clear?" Once more, she received a nod from everyone in the room.

"I'll spread the word." George confirmed.

"Harry, ready your troops for the strike. You will be briefed on further details as you directly work with Gregory of P.R. and Margaret of Strategic Placement." Daphne said, pointing out the two from the nine at the table.

"Yes, Milady."

"Is there anything else that anyone on the council wishes to present?" Daphne asked.

She received a negative response from everyone in the room, excluding Harry. He already had informed her of everything he knew.

"Good. Margaret, Gregory, please stay behind so you may figure out where to go to discuss Project Bang." Daphne said.

Everyone nodded, and all excluding the four rose from their seats and exited the room after saying their goodbyes.

"I think Gregory would be better suited for housing the Wolf. He can brief him on what will need to be done while I have my people work out a place and time to strike." Margaret offered calculatingly.

"Will I be bringing in my personal troops or using the general army?" Harry asked.

"Your troops I think would be better suited for this if they any are needed at all." Gregory replied.

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"This may only require you or a team to accomplish." Margaret answered.

Harry nodded.

"Who will be the officer in charge of this project?" Gregory asked.

"You and Margaret will be in charge of preparations while on the ground, Harry will."

"Yes, but who is overall?" Margaret asked.

Daphne paused. "Harry is." As the two began to object to Daphne's decision, she stopped them. "As both of you are acting as preparations, Harry is the commander when I am not present… but do not think for a second that I am not in charge and disrespect my decisions. I do allow my decisions to be questioned as anyone, even me, could make a mistake, but I will not tolerate it when those questions are foolishly spoken as if you are children!"

"I apologize, Milady. I was out of line." Gregory and Margaret said in turn.

"Your apologies are accepted, but with them I expect that they will not happen again." Daphne replied. "Now, both of you are dismissed. Gregory, wait at the floo, however, for my lieutenant as you so graciously accepted to house him."

Margaret and Gregory exchanged their goodbyes quickly and left the room, making sure that the door was closed on their way out.

"What do you think of the political side of things?"

"Never been a fan of politics; too much greed in it for me." Harry replied. "Though, you have mastered it quite well, Daphne."

Daphne grinned. "Using flattery to get on my good side, are you?"

"No… just giving credit to where it is due." Harry replied.

"I'm not exactly sure I would have minded if you were." Daphne slipped out unknowingly while she and Harry were looking toward the door. Harry's head bolted to the left, though, after her words soaked in to his brain, making it shut down and speech unattainable.

The man was at a loss for words, though, not entirely due to her statement. At first it was, but after a couple of seconds of looking at Daphne's unmoving profile, Harry began to notice all of the beautiful qualities the woman to his left held, having never properly given her a genuine look-over. Her naturally pale skin, her gray eyes, her slim, blond eyebrows matching her wavy, long hair, her thin cheeks and perfectly puffed out red lips. All of this Harry could see, and all of this absorbed him. To Harry, nothing existed excluding that right profile of Daphne's face, especially her stony cold eyes. He was especially entranced in those impenetrable globes. The entire thing could have lasted a year, but Harry would not have noticed. In reality, it had only been ten seconds.

Curious as to why her lieutenant was silent, Daphne turned to her right and saw the look on Harry's face and was thoroughly surprised. She never would have thought that Harry Potter would look at her like he was doing now. It was beyond the lustful, obsessing looks she had received from boys at Hogwarts. No, she could see that this was not that sort of love but the genuine admiration and caring that only the highest level of love held.

In a moment, though, she made a decision: a decision to ignore their feelings for one another right now. She imagined that Harry must've been too absorbed in her to notice that she noticed his look, so she knew she could get away with it until she wished to reveal her feelings for him as well… or until he came out with it himself. She knew that that was always a possibility, but her current plan would give her at least some time to make a proper plan. So, she turned her head back and finally spoke.

"I didn't realize you were so susceptible to jokes. All our enemies have to do is that, and I will lose my head lieutenant, huh?"

Harry snapped out of his state and gathered himself before finally speaking as well. "Sorry, Daphne. I… just never heard a joke from you." Harry pretended to admit, thinking that she might not have noticed his stare.

"Well, do not let it happen again." Daphne replied lightly.

"Of course not."

Daphne nodded. "Well, now that we have solved you only weakness, we need to quickly move onto business." She received a nod from Harry. "I need you to inform if anyone shows any signs of treason or thoughts of it. It wouldn't do to have traitors so close to a new beginning."

"No, it wouldn't." Harry agreed. "I'll inform you as soon I can if I believe something is wrong."

"Good. Now, get going. Gregory might get suspicious." Daphne replied.

Harry nodded as he stood up and walked to the door. "I will see you when I return, Milady."

"Hopefully, you will. Good luck, lieutenant." Daphne said before Harry opened the door.

"Thank you." Harry then crossed over the threshold of the doors, closed the twin pieces of mahogany, and walked down the corridors to the floos.

Daphne sighed. "I can't believe that that fool loves me." Daphne rubbed her forehead. "And I cannot believe that I might love that fool back."

A few days later in Diagon Alley, the streets, despite of the torrential downpour, were crowded full of returning and new students of Hogwarts as they gathered the final things they would need for the school year as well as various people on an average day's shopping trip.

In the midst of this chaos, a lone figure under many strong glamour charms wearing a black outfit navigated through the crowd, heading toward his target. On other parts of the street, other black robed figures walked toward their own destinations with a sense of purpose only most purebloods possessed. As the first man strode towards his position, the others soon began disappearing inside various shops. Thirty seconds after the last one disappeared, Harry reached his target.

He turned around so that he could see the rest of the Alley. Discreetly, Harry slipped on his mask but was unnoticed as it melted in with his glamours.

After checking to see that all of his men and women were positioned, Harry tapped the place on his wrist where a watch would have been worn.

Suddenly, the crowd thought they saw explosions everywhere, propelling them into a new kind of chaos: panic. Despite the first-thought random nature of the explosions, they were calculated so as to destroy each of the apparation points and floos in Diagon Alley.

A few in the crowd managed to try and head back to the Leaky Cauldron in the widespread panic but were blockaded by newly emerging Death Eaters, who had sealed off the entrance for the time being. Then, other Death Eaters emerged from the shops, forcing out the former occupants while more of their brethren could be seen with their wands at the ready, just as Harry had planned. Thankfully, not a single one moved out of the motions they had set for themselves. Then again, Harry didn't very much expect them to, as these were his personal troops.

After everything was confirmed to be secure, Harry undid his glamours and shot a spell above the center of the crowd that created a loud 'bang,' automatically gathering the crowd's full attention.

"Hello, wizards, witches, and soon to be magicals as well as your muggle parent or parents! We apologize for this rude way of gathering your attention and for interrupting your shopping day, but you should know that after what I tell you, you will not think that the hours of shopping were lost in vain." Harry said, standing in front of Gringotts but not daring to even look at the guards. He knew that as long as he did not intrude on them, then he would be safe.

"Like any of us would listen to you, you underbelly, scum!" A woman shouted. "I fought against you thugs before as a child and taught you a lesson!"

Harry looked at the woman and was slightly surprised but did not hesitate to calmly reply, never giving away his momentary surprise. "And who might you be to think that we are not stronger than we have ever been? After all, I do hold in my control for the moment… Diagon Alley and all of you."

"The wife of the one who killed Voldemort, Harry Potter!" Ginny shouted back.

"Ah… the Boy-Who-Lived; I doubt he will be here to save any of you now as I have never personally seen him. Besides, I am afraid that your name has never been mentioned." Harry smirked under his mask.

"What do you mean you've never seen him?" James shouted. "You took him from us!"

'Ever so much like his father when he was young as well as his grandfather.' Harry thought before speaking aloud. "The Death Eaters haven't seen Harry Potter since his last attack on us months ago. If you are implying that the reason for his absence since the last known attack on the Death Eaters is that we killed or hold him hostage, is a lie. He killed all of the troops that were there when he was, and our reinforcements only found the bodies of those he slain as well as about fifty dead aurors as well."

"What did you mean when you said 'the last known attack on the Death Eaters?" A man in the crowd asked.

"Thank you, kind sir, for finally bringing us to what I wished to talk to everyone here about today." Harry congratulated before growing more serious. "You see, the Ministry holds mostly corruption nowadays. Some, I will admit, is caused by us, but I highly doubt you would blame an organization of heroes portrayed as villains."

The crowd busted into chatter at Harry's latest words but was quickly shushed by the Death Eaters. They were as into his words as the crowd was.

"For most of the corruption is from Ministry officials themselves! No longer does even the Wizengamot have a say as Minister Corner and almost all of his department heads hide secrets away from even their own people in a thirst for power and money. Even one of the departments, who's Head is unaware of the evils around her, uses its multitude of troops to attack muggleborn homes and create anti-muggle locations under the guise of being Death Eaters! Well, this is no longer who the Death Eaters are! In our latest reformation, we attempted to convene with Minister Corner and plead to him to allow us as a peaceful group of individuals wishing for pureblood lines to remain, to let the world we know remain!"

"The Death Eaters only wish to isolate the magical and muggle worlds in order to preserve it, not reform it completely so as to let the purebloods have much more power over everyone. The most extreme wish of ours is that muggleborn children are found and brought into magical families very early on in life, so that they are raised to our customs and can better preserve the magical world. Because if we do not, it will not be long before the days of the witch hunts return as more muggles know of us. We will be hunted to extinction, and I can not willingly allow that!"

"So, my magical brethren, join us in our fight against the Ministry before it rules us while trapped in iron chains held by an iron fist! Let the name Death Eater no longer stand for supremacy and evil but for rebellion against slavers and for good!"

By the time Harry finished his speech, all of the Death Eaters and many in the crowd were cheering.

Amidst the cheers, confusion, and boos, Harry saw that one of his lieutenants was giving him the warning sign for aurors trying to come through. Harry nodded to the man, and a couple seconds later the Death Eaters rocketed into the air in puffs of black smoke.

Before Harry left, however, he said one last thing to the crowd.

"If you are with us, find the nearest recruitment station as soon as you can. There is a war brewing, and every side will need as many troops as they can gather."

With that, Harry joined the others in the sky before heading off to his base.

Stepping out of the floo, Harry continued to the staircase before heading down to Daphne's door.

Harry gave a quick double rap on the door and waited a few seconds for when Daphne gave him permission to come in, and he sat across from her at her desk, placing his silver mask on the desk.

"How successful were you?" Daphne asked.

"I definitely caused an uproar amongst the people in the Alley. It won't take long to spread, especially since I had my lieutenants send out signals to the other bases to spread the word. There is no way the _Daily Prophet_ won't have it on the front page tomorrow and our new views known all over magical Britain." Harry replied.

"How was it received?"

"I was able to actually reveal some of it differently due to my bloody wife being in the crowd, and I think it might have actually helped as I told everyone that we aren't holding me hostage. I would say a third are definitely with us, a third against, and a third undecided, but that is only a rough estimate. I couldn't be completely sure of the numbers."

"Don't be so confident in the effect you had on them, Harry. While you definitely created a bang, the Ministry will surely attempt to disprove your claims. They will affect our number of new recruits." Daphne warned.

Harry nodded. "It is a start at least. The masses have been informed, and we are preparing." Harry phrased the second part of his statement more as a question.

"Correct; all divisions are moving to work at full capacity in preparation for the war effort. Hopefully, we will be better prepared than the other side, and the war will be brief." Daphne replied. "In the meantime, I will be needing you to start overlooking the recruits' training from this base as well as further preparing the rest of the army for war. We can outfit you with what you need, but you are their commander."

"Will you be staying here as well?" Harry couldn't help but ask.

"I will be here occasionally so our new troops know who is in charge, but there are other areas that will need help, yours least of all from what I've seen from the reports." Daphne replied easily.

"It is good to hear my troops are making a name for themselves and not just me. Though I must admit, I am disappointed at not seeing you as often. I have begun to enjoy your company very much." Harry said slowly and carefully, cautiously looking at Daphne to judge for a reaction.

However, Harry was thrown completely off guard when she sighed and summoned over two shot glasses and a bottle of what seemed to be firewhiskey to Harry, but it was not a company he was familiar with. She pulled off the glass topper and quickly poured the spirits into the two glasses, never spilling a drop onto the wood of the desk. Daphne pushed one of the glasses toward Harry, who curiously took it from her, before downing her shot of liquor into her mouth. Despite her quick movements, she allowed the liquid to dance across her tongue and enjoyed slowly swallowing it.

Harry gave her an odd look.

"Drink your whiskey first." Daphne demanded lightly.

Harry nodded and was surprised to find an overall better taste than even the best firewhiskey he had ever had, Bilshen's. Harry enjoyed the great flavor of the alcohol for a few moments before swallowing it all down in one gulp. A second later, he felt the burning sensation that came with the overpowering comfort firewhiskey always brought to its drinker.

Seeing that he finished his first shot, Daphne poured more of the fine firewhiskey into his glass before refilling hers as well.

"Are we just going to drink until your drunk enough to answer my question?" Harry asked, trying to add a small chuckle at the end of his sentence.

"They're my back-up." Daphne replied before sighing once more but continuing in her silence.

"Look, I apologize if I crossed a line with you, Daphne. I just…" Harry couldn't continue speaking. When he had lost everything, he became an uncaring animal, but it seemed that, while he had suppressed the pain, Harry had also suppressed all of his emotions. Now, they were starting to come out, breaking free of the shell.

"Before you left to work on the project, I saw the way you looked at me, and I never thought I would. I was invisible to you at Hogwarts, and you always had been with Ginerva." Daphne finally spoke more than one sentence. "With all of that and other things, I grew cold and became the stone you have seen. You see I…" Another sigh, "Love you." Daphne very slowly admitted.

Finally, the blizzard and the forest colored eyes met and broke down. No longer was it a horrific storm but a wonderful waterscape, and the impenetrable jade forest was partially cleared to reveal a paradise, conveying the feelings between the two that each had kept, one for a few days while the other for over thirteen years.

The two pushed their seats back as they stood and interlocked their lips for a passionate kiss, both of them using their tongues to battle for dominance. Each brought their hands to the other's body and began familiarizing themselves with their definitions.

Daphne finally broke the kiss, gasping for air with Harry right behind her, doing the same. Their eyes met once again but neither moved, lost in the other's eyes.

That was until Harry finally replied to the woman across from him. "I love you too."

Tears began falling down her cheeks, past her smiling lips to drop to the floor, the same smile on the other person's face.

"I-" Daphne began but was interrupted.

"I know." Her eyes spoke more than words ever could.

"We can't let anyone know." Daphne warned.

"Of course not. They'd think that that was the reason overall for recruiting me." Harry replied.

"Besides, I need to be strong."

"Who says you never were? I'll kill them." Harry grinned.

**AN: I thought I'd expand on the romance I started last chapter. Sorry if it was too sappy for you, but nevertheless, I hope you liked the chapter. As always, reviews are very welcomed and are genuinely taken into consideration. **_**Occidere Prima Vel Occidi.**_


	6. The Gloves Are Off

**Disclaimer: I do not own any character's objects or anything else that comes from J.K. Rowling's ****_Harry Potter_**** series.**

**Warning: This story will contain scenes of violence, bad language, and maybe other themes that some audiences may find unsuitable. You have been advised.**

**_When You Have Nothing Left to Lose_**

**Chapter 6**

"Fuck!"

"Sir, calm down! It won't do to have people see you so hotheaded." An aide advised.

"Oh, nobody can hear us! But, how in the bloody blazes are they organizing such an effort?" Michael Corner asked.

"We do not know, sir. The DMLE is doing their best to find out how they could have avoided our searches for so long and are trying to stop as many attacks as they can, but it seems that they are everywhere." The aide replied.

Corner sighed angrily. "It appears there is only one last alternative then."

"You don't mean…?"

"Yes. Start arranging everything." Michael replied.

"I will get it done, Minister Corner."

The Minister of Magic leaned forward towards his desk with his hands covering his face. "I hope our children can find a way to forgive us."

Meanwhile, Harry had just arrived outside the Inner Circle's Meeting Room and was about to open the doors into the room.

The room silenced as soon as the doors cracked, all heads were on him as he entered with making sure to close the doors behind him.

Harry's eyes scanned the entire room, ensuring to meet everyone's eyes with his steely green ones. Looking around, he noted that the only person missing was his love unsurprisingly. It would not do for any of the council to be late.

As Harry sat down, everyone continued their previous conversations, though much more carefully to not inflict the Shadow Wolf's wrath.

It had been two weeks since the bang, and the Wolf's reputation as well as the number of new recruits had only grown exponentially. The day after Harry had carried the project through, he dispatched the army in small brigades all over the country, striking all at once to quickly divide the aurors into ineffective two-man teams. The targets were small fields in the countryside, Diagon Alley, and other smaller streets, where the Death Eaters easily pushed back the aurors with superior numbers. Since then, their attacks had continued on an almost daily basis with their sometimes being multiple joint attacks throughout the day.

Harry pondered this as well as the training of their new troops while the others continued to discuss other, social matters until the doors to the room opened once more.

As Daphne entered, Harry and the other members of the Inner Circle stood out of pure loyalty and respect.

"You may be seated." Daphne said, motioning for all to sit as she started to walk to her chair.

All nodded and lowered themselves down and pushed their chairs in toward the table.

"Milady." Harry said with a nod as Daphne sat down in her own throne.

"Status reports?"

George stood up and began to speak. "Our numbers have over doubled since project bang was initiated, and due to this, my department was forced to increase its number of posts even more so than we originally planned. It appears we underestimated the impact that the project would have, and we are still operating at full capacity with some having to be told to return later to protect the secrecy of our stations. Overall, however, we are running well, excluding the need for more recruitment posts and stations which are already being deployed at the quickest pace we are able to."

Daphne nodded. "Good. Ensure that any that need to come back do. Take their names and visit their homes later if need be, but we need them."

George sat bowed and sat back down. "I'll ensure it, Lady Daphne."

On the meeting went with the other nine reporting that they had received a surge in numbers, were operating at full capacity and peak efficiency, and some even shared new ideas to help their department or the organization as a whole.

Finally, however, it was Harry's turn.

Daphne gave the man a look, and he stood up from his chair.

"As everyone knows, the project was extremely successful but has yet to be called either way. Do I have your permission to have it confirm its success on file, Lady Daphne?" Harry asked.

The woman thought a moment and nodded. "You may do so. Anything else?"

"Yes, milady." Harry replied before continuing. "The attacks against the Ministry and other smaller targets have been so far extremely effective. Yet have the aurors learned a way to fend off our advances, and our teams have been almost untouched by them. Casualties so far are very low with almost none."

"Almost? What has happened?" A member interrupted.

Harry's head snapped to the fool, and two emerald glares bored into the man's skull until the fool averted his gaze in shame.

"As I was saying, the only casualties I believe we have gained are small, minor cuts and bruises that come naturally during fighting, but none of our troops have yet to be killed or captured. The only disadvantage I would note is that due to the need for troops so quickly I was forced to shorten some of their training so they could be deployed in these attacks. I believe, though, that with some time we could have an army that would not easily have this problem. Even the troops under my personal command would grow weak during a long, prolonged battle where reinforcements were slim to none." Harry continued once more.

"Hmm. How soon could you fix the problem?" Daphne asked.

Harry thought for a few seconds. "It is hard to estimate as I am not in logistics or anything of the like, but if I needed to guess, I would say three weeks maybe. Like I said previously, though, it is hard to know better numbers without being in logistics."

"Do whatever you can to fix this problem as soon as possible. I don't want our troops losing due to unfinished training." Daphne ordered. "Is there anything else you have for me?"

"Milady, with the unfinished training let me notify you that their training should never stop." Harry said as respectfully and carefully as he could. "They should constantly be trying to improve themselves."

Daphne looked slightly annoyed but clamed herself and spoke. "I will remember that, Mr. Potter. Do you have anything else for me?"

"No, milady." Harry bowed and sat back down.

"Good, now that those are established, do any of you have any new or old issues that you wished to have taken up?" Daphne asked.

And so the meeting continued with the members of the Inner Circle discussing management of departments and other government duties Harry found boring. Only when they discussed the strategy for the war did Harry contribute much but otherwise he mostly remained an observer.

Finally, however, the meeting ended after another hour, and all began to depart after being reminded to meet there once again in two weeks and two days. The intervals of the meetings always changed and were kept by the members of the Inner Circle to prevent anyone knowing when to exactly attack the gathered leaders.

As Harry walked down the corridors of the building towards the floos, his esteemed leader and secret lover intercepted him.

Quickly, she pulled him into an empty room and locked the door. As soon as she did this, she turned around and embraced Harry, kissing him deeply. The kiss only lasted a few seconds and when done, Daphne slapped the Shadow Wolf.

"What did you think you were doing?" She quietly shouted at the man.

Harry's eyebrows furrowed together, and upon seeing his look of confusion Daphne explained, "You cannot degrade my authority in my own council room! The others will either not stand for it or believe something is going on between the both of us. I don't know which would be worse!"

"I apologize, Daphne, but the council needed to be made aware of how part of the system works. It would not be wise for them to think the army is fully prepared for war when all we are receiving is a huge influx of people that need to be trained, and the number of new recruits each day is overwhelming our teachers. I am going to need from you more if the army is to continue its success." Harry replied.

"I will get you your teachers, but please be more aware of the authority I must uphold." Daphne responded.

"Thank you."

Daphne just smiled and went back to snogging her love.

Five minutes later, she walked out of the room slowly, making sure to check for a passerby. Once satisfied, she left and proceeded back the way she had come, and a minute later Harry continued on his journey to the floos.

Five minutes after he had left the room, he appeared back at the base in Scotland and sighed.

"It is good to be home."

The once sparse transport level of the complex was now bustling with constant activity as recruits were being sent in, trained troops were leaving to reinforce other bases, and others were doing so to perform another duty for the organization.

Harry walked to the staircase, the crowd parting for the Shadow Wolf but constantly moving towards their destinations. Once at the top, one of his lieutenants, Joshua, came forward.

"Did you get us some more people to train these recruits, or are we going to need to handle the situation as best as we can for now?" The lieutenant asked with a sigh.

"Our leader will be sending us more, thankfully. Any problems arise while I was away?" Harry asked as they descended the stairs for the training level.

"Besides the ones we had when you left, none. Otherwise, we're still getting bum-fucked by this overflow of recruits and the need to send them out without full basic training." Joshua replied.

"We could have worse problems. There could be no recruits at all." Harry said as they walked out onto the walkway for spectators.

"I know, but it still has got us in a bind."

"I want all troops that return from the field to here to be trained as much as they can be after they recover from the fighting. Push the newer recruits' training sessions to afterwards to accommodate them. They won't be going back out into the field soon; the others will. Also, as soon as a trooper is proficient in a subject whether from combat or instruction, I want them moved to the next part of training." Harry commanded.

"I'll get the orders under way." Joshua said.

"Good. If you encounter James while having this carried out, please send him over here to me." Harry replied.

"Am I dismissed, sir?"

"You are, Joshua."

Harry's lieutenant bowed and walked back to the staircase.

Harry, in turn, shook his head at the strict militaristic fashion of his number three and turned around to observe the nearest duel, which happened to be between two of his own battalion.

"Okay, everyone, place your bets right here! Place your bets!" A man advertised.

"Who are most saying is going to win?" Harry asked without taking his eyes off the two men as they prepared themselves for the fight.

"Uh…. We've figured they're pretty even, but it's slightly more in Bartleby's favor than Angus's." The bookie replied.

Harry nodded his head.

"Would you like to…" The bookie drifted off as Harry turned his impervious, steely gaze on him.

Without saying a word, Harry turned back to the arena.

He had already analyzed the cornfield that the magically enlarged arena had been transformed into and now examined the two men.

In their eyes, he noticed pure determination emanating from both of their brown orbs, and backing up their eyes was their body language. Both stood confidently on either side of the field.

Then he remembered the two's styles. Bartleby he knew to be more on the strongly offensive side, using mainly brute force to batter down defenses and strong defensive spells to block what his opponent could manage to send. Angus, on the other hand, was Bartleby's polar opposite, using quick, rapid spells to precisely target weak spots in his opponent's defenses and mainly dodged incoming spells.

If Harry had to choose between either of their styles-

"Sir! Sir!" An aide shouted over to Harry as he came running in from the staircase. Quickly the male teen ran over to the Shadow Wolf, a piece of paper in his right hand. "Sir, urgent news. Joshua says that you need to get over to the command center as quickly as you can." The aide handed over the parchment in his hand.

Harry took the sheet quickly but retained his proud, calm stance while the rest of the immediate area stared at Harry. He held the sheet close to him so no others could read but not at an uncomfortable distance. While he appeared unaffected by the words on the page, Harry was internally worried.

"Thank you. Report back to your previous duty, and do not share what you know with any others unless given permission to do so, understood?"

"Yes, sir." The aide saluted.

"Then you're dismissed." Harry said before he walked past the teen and briskly continued over to the staircase. Once there, though, he disappeared into a cloud of black smoke as he traveled down many floors until he finally exited out to meet two stone knights standing guard outside a wooden door.

The second-in-command of the Death Eaters reappeared out of the smoke and kept walking until he reached the door.

"Identify yourself." The knight on Harry's left spoke in a deep, gravelly voice as he and his companion crossed their swords to block Harry's path.

"Harry James Potter, second-in-command of our forces." Harry growled.

"Accepted." The other knight spoke as the two sheathed their swords, and the door opened on its own despite the fact that a ward prevented anyone from entering if not identified.

Harry walked past the two with the door closing behind him.

Harry stood and absorbed the scene before him and mentally steeled himself further.

This was the debriefing room of the building but it looked more like the hospital level with the amount of doctors and nurses rushing to and from the many hospital beds that had been moved there to accommodate their wounded patients.

"What happened?" Harry asked his third in command as he approached.

"That's what we are just about to find out, sir. We waited for you to debrief them." Joshua replied as he started walking toward a bed towards the far end of the widely open level. Harry walked with a wider stride beside him.

"What's your name, soldier?" Harry asked as the two stopped at a bed. The man in it had a bandaged left arm and ribs but still had his robes on, and they were covered in blood.

"The name is Sprague, sir." The man winced as he tried to salute his commander.

"No need for that. Just tell me what happened, and we can leave you to rest, Sprague." Harry said kindly while holding his hand out to push the injured man back down to his pillow.

"Thank you, sir." Sprague gulped. "They came out along with the aurors. We treated them like any other threat, but they were… different. Stronger. Tougher. They even looked a little different than the other aurors, more professional, less frivolous. They tore us apart."

Harry and Joshua exchanged a grave look.

"What exactly happened after they appeared? How did they act?" Harry pressed.

"Um," Sprague's eyebrows furrowed, "after they appeared they took up pieces of cover and started advancing from one piece of cover to the other with the people advancing being covered by their friends' spells, and the spells weren't ordinary spells either. They acted much like the spells we use if not stronger."

"Then?" Joshua asked.

"Well, they kept doing that until they were very close to us, and then more of them just emerged out of nowhere from the buildings beside us even though we made sure to have powerful wards blocking any floos. They tore through us like we were butter, and when some of us tried to escape using the floos they were still being blocked by our own wards. Most of us only managed to escape by apparating." Sprague finished.

"Thank you for telling us this… and for your sacrifices to our cause. We'll make sure to put this information to good use. Now… rest easy. Your job is done." Harry replied before starting to turn to leave but was halted by Sprague.

"Thank you, sir."

Harry nodded and turned away before walking toward the center of the makeshift hospital.

"What do you wish for me to do, general?" Joshua asked.

"Debrief all who are capable as soon as they are to see if you can gather anything else, and report it back directly to me. Make sure, though, to keep everything discreet; we cannot have the entire army panicking and leaving us."

"Will do. I'll make sure everyone here upholds their silence."

"Good. In the meantime, halt all other assaults and gather my battalion for a briefing." Harry nodded.

"I'll get it done." Joshua replied.

Harry nodded once more and left for the staircase, ascending down a few floors.

Harry traveled through the corridors of the officers' quarters level until he arrived at his door and silently entered. He made sure to lock the door behind him and went over to his wardrobe to adorn his battle robes as he had taken to calling them. They were much like the ones he was wearing but had wards and charms bestowed upon the cloth. Harry quickly switched the clothing and went into his office, walking straight to a mirror lying on his desk.

"Daphne Greengrass." Harry commanded as if it would bring her image into the mirror quicker.

After a few moments, the woman appeared.

"What is it, Harry?"

"The aurors have gained a new addition to the ranks or something of the like. They completely repelled one of our attacks. Many are under medical supervision; I'm taking my entire battalion with me to strike somewhere important. I just need your permission to do so." Harry said in quick, short sentences.

"Harry, if they were as effective as you said they are, are you sure that it would be a wise idea to assault a target of any importance with that threat present?" Daphne asked, concerned.

"Milady, they hurt us. It is important to prove to our men that we can and will prevail as well as to the Ministry to lessen their moral. We cannot appear weak if we wish to win this war." Harry growled.

Daphne sighed and shook her head. "Very well, if you must. Just… be careful"

"My men are not like any others." Harry replied.

"I know. Good luck."

"Thank you." Harry said before he ended the link and set the mirror back on his desk before getting up and traveling to the staircase and then down a few floors.

Harry stepped out onto a floor that was similar to the debriefing floor with two stone knights guarding a wooden door.

"Harry James Potter, second in command of our forces." Harry said before ever given the demand.

"Accepted." The two swords uncrossed.

Harry just crossed through the doorway and down a dark, undecorated hallway that had several wooden doors on its sides.

After a bit of walking, Harry finally opened and went through a door on his right, making sure to close it behind him.

"Sir!" A Death Eater in robes that differed from most others saluted. Behind him, many in the same robes with differing masks did the same.

"You may be seated." Harry said to his personal battalion of troops. They only obeyed him or Daphne.

Everyone nodded and sat down in a semicircle as Harry crossed to the middle of where the circle would have been. A wooden board was set up there.

Harry looked at the board for a moment when he arrived at it but then turned to face his troops.

"Okay, about an hour ago, we dispatched teams again to several areas to rouse some chaos and lower the Ministry's moral even further. About a half hour after that, some differently dressed people arrived on the scene of one of the assaults with aurors. We can easily assume they are Ministry as the aurors assisted these new troops." Harry sighed and explained how the scene unfolded. "I was informed of this directly by one of our own who managed to escape."

The room was silent in respect for their fellow soldiers who had been killed or even injured in the counterattack. The silence lasted half a minute before a man stood.

"Let's kill these bastards!"

A collective roar agreement backed up his statement.

"Do not fret. All of you are here now to avenge your fallen brothers." Harry began, silencing his battalion. He then turned to face the board and began summoning a map onto it. "In response to these new troops, we will attack a target of high importance to negate any effect the Ministry hoped to achieve." Harry then stepped out of the way of the board and turned to face his troops.

"Sir, is that…?"

"Yes, it is exactly what you may think." Harry replied.

"How did you get a map of it?" Another asked.

"I have my ways. Now," Harry began as he turned back to the board and picked up a self-inking quill, "this is how we're going to do it."

At nine thirty that night, Harry led his battalion fully outfitted in their dark robes and silver masks out of a forest and directed some of his men to a small hut not so far away.

The previously selected Death Eaters nodded and hurried silently towards the hut. Each one surrounded the dome and used spells to cut small holes into the material that covered the small structure. They then pointed their wands inside, and a sudden, combined, red light flashed out of each opening in the hut.

They then rejoined their other comrades as they walked by and towards the bridge that led to the rest of Hogwarts castle. As soon as they stepped off the bridge they quickly rushed to the doors of the Entrance Hall, where they assembled quietly before they split into two groups, one heading to the dungeons and the basement and the other heading upstairs to each floor.

With perfect timing, they entered the common rooms of each house and then went over to the dormitories with the women entering the girls' dormitories and the men doing same for the boys' dormitories, yelling and shouting to scare them awake. As each student ran, screaming in terror out of their beds, dormitories, and common rooms, most of the Death Eaters followed them with some of their brethren jumping out from corners until the students were forced into the Great Hall.

While this entire process was unfolding, other Death Eaters were waking and fighting the professors of the school. They easily won against the teachers and forced them into the Great Hall, where the professors gathered at their table.

Only two people in the entire castle, though, were not being led into the Great Hall. Harry had entered one of the Gryffindor boys' dormitories and had scared the children inside of the dorm out until they reached the Grand Staircase, where he turned and proceeded through the halls until he arrived at a gargoyle statue.

"I need to speak to the Headmistress." Harry said in his altered voice.

"I will not allow someone kill the headmistress." The gargoyle replied.

"There's no need for that. He cannot kill me." A woman said as she descended the stairs and started to pass by the gargoyle.

"Mistress Granger, we can do this one way or the other but you are going to the Great Hall." Harry threatened, paying no mind to his past with the woman standing in front of him.

Quickly she drew her wand and pointed it at him; Harry's holster ejecting into his hand his hand, which mirrored her position.

"Do you really expect me to think that you won't kill me? You do know that I am the brightest witch of my age, right?"

"I am going to tell you once more to proceed to the Great Hall without a fight. Unless you provoke us, we will not kill you, I give you my word." Harry said forcefully.

Hermione just left her wand pointing at Harry at the ready.

Harry shrugged while keeping his wand pointed. "Your choice."

Hermione launched a spell at the Shadow Wolf, forcing him to create a magical shield and to back up a bit. Seeing this, she kept up the attack, launching spell after spell at him with Harry remaining defensive on purpose. He allowed Hermione's moral to grow and force him all the way to the Grand Staircase. He did say that she would end up in the Great Hall one way or the other; he didn't say that he was going to drag her there.

As soon as they reached the top of the staircase, though, Harry stood his ground and blocked while his left holster ejected his wand into his other hand, unbeknownst to Hermione. As her spell stopped and his shield came down, Harry swung his left wand around and summoned her past him, causing her to tumble down two flights of stairs. The castle somehow knew of her fall and moved the staircases so that she did not fall down into empty space. Harry had meanwhile turned and started to walk down the stairs before the castle could move them away from his opponent. By the time he reached her, she had already risen to her feet and had her wand pointed back at him.

"Do you wish to continue?" Harry asked. "Or shall we behave civilly?"

Harry was once again answered by a spell coming at him, which was dodged by a simple sidestep. "You know you are very rude." Harry then used both of his wands to send two, silent as always, Expelliarmus spells at Hermione. She quickly responded by throwing up a shield, which was destroyed by the two pieces of magic, causing her to stumble slightly but just enough so she was back on a staircase.

Harry grinned and continued to battle Hermione down the stairs until they were on a staircase between the fourth and fifth floors, using several different ways of attacks as well as spells with both of his wands.

Hermione had been growing worried, as Harry had kept up a relentless assault on her shields, exhausting her magic. 'Whoever this person is,' Hermione had thought, 'he is definitely strong to not have grown weak by now. I need to do something or else I'm done.' Quickly she had scoured her mind for an answer until she remembered a spell that might work.

When Harry had both of his wands pointed away form her due to him just completing a spin where he had quickly transferred from using his right wand to his left by spinning, she swung her wand while casting a spell.

The resulting effect pushed Harry over the railing of the marble staircase and to fall down two floors, but he cast a slight explosive charm below him just before he landed so that he arrived on the staircase unharmed.

Hermione growled in frustration and hurried down the two staircases in her way of the Shadow Wolf.

Soon as she arrived, however, Harry cast up a shield to block her rushed Stupefy while swinging his right wand to his left much like she had just done to him. Surprised by his use of two different spells simultaneously, Hermione tumbled over the railing much like Harry just had but Hogwarts once again helped her by moving the nearest staircase directly below her. She landed in a rough heap but was back on her feet by the time Harry arrived.

Now there was only one staircase until they reached the Entrance Hall, and both of them were standing on it.

Hermione tried futilely to stop Harry from advancing further on her and making her retreat more, but he kept using both wands to attack her shields or using one wand to block her attacks while using the other to attack her open form. She could barely manage to stop Harry's attacks from hitting her.

Finally, however, she was forced to the ground floor and then towards the open doors of the Great Hall, which were being crossed with the exchange of spells.

The students and teachers in the Great Hall ceased their attacks, however, upon seeing their headmistress being forced towards them while in her seemingly endless fight with the Death Eaters' Highest General, and closed and locked the doors, hoping that the higher deities would forgive them for sacrificing one to save themselves.

Harry smirked as he saw Hermione see this act and started to maneuver himself so he was with his fellow Death Eaters while Hermione was forced towards the doors of the Great Hall. He then finally ended the fight by sending two explosive spells in her direction at slightly different times. As Hermione raised her shield, the first one flew above her head and forced the doors open, and the second impacted her time-weakening shield a couple of seconds later propelling her through the widening gap as she had not been prepared for the timing of the second explosion.

Harry and his troops quickly followed in with each of their wands pointed at one, armed target.

The teachers were forced back to their table, and the fighting students surrendered, dropping their wands to the ground.

"Ah, now that everyone is here, I may finally begin." Harry said, his comrades surrounding him but letting his masked face and covered figure show.

"I believe I should start with the reason for my appearance here tonight." Harry said to the school but as if thinking to himself. "You see, the Ministry earlier today sent out some new troops and massacred some of my troops without mercy. Now, the rest of my troops and I have been nothing but honorable, allowing retreating aurors to flee and letting injured opponents escape, but I want all of you to tell them that we will retaliate in kind. If they show no mercy then we will share none as well. We easily got past your defenses, and if the Ministry is not to start doing so, then we will come here again and will permanently occupy this castle until the end of the war."

The crowd burst into a collective murmur of thoughts as Harry paused for a few seconds to let his words sink in.

"We are also here to give you the call to arms against the Ministry of Magic and its corrupt officials! I know you are not supposed to fight, but I have heard of how students of this very school fought against the first and most despicable generation of Death Eaters and won! Children can also make a difference; resist the Ministry's control! Do not let them poison your minds and control your ways! Resist!" Harry yelled, making many roar in agreement. Harry waited for the crowd to calm before he continued but in a calmer voice himself. "I will trust in you young men and women form your own resistance. When you are confident that you have formed, contact us, and we will happily accept you amongst our organization."

"Of course a Death Eater would barge into our home and then claim to come in peace! You are a wretch!" A Gryffindor in his fifth year yelled.

"I will not dignify that biased remark with a reply, whoever you may be; reason always should prevail over brashness." Harry replied. "Now, forgive us for this."

All of the Death Eaters sent out a wide burst of stunning spells and rapidly stunned any who remained standing.

"Sir, I have received word that aurors are about to leave for here in suspicion in that something has occurred here." Joshua told Harry.

"Then we'd better hurry." Harry replied before blasting a large, gaping hole in the middle of the ceiling. "Morsmordre!" Harry cast into the sky, putting up the green symbol of the Death Eaters before pointing one wand to the closest wall while doing the same with his other wand to the other closest wall. He silently cast two spells that marked one wall with the Death Eater symbol and the other with his symbol. As soon as the symbols were fully marked into the stone, Harry turned and did the same for the farther two walls and the opposing corners of the hall, where the floor met the walls or where the walls met the ceiling. While Harry was marking the symbols, his troops were casting lines of magic between each neighboring symbol. After Harry marked the last corner, he stepped away from below the hole in the ceiling and cast his symbol larger than any of the others into the ground where he had previously been standing and then drew a magical line between it and the Dark Mark in the sky. Finally, the Death Eaters drew magical lines to the center of the hall, above his symbol and left the hall.

Harry then exhaled slowly and fully before inhaling sharply, focusing his mind and magic. He raised both of his wands so they were pointed at the point that his brethren had connected the other symbols and pulled back his hands before channeling as much magic as he could into two spells that were launched at the point by Harry quickly snapping his hands forward.

Outside the castle, Hagrid had recently awoken and stumbled out of his hut, feeling quite groggy. Stretching his back, he gasped as he saw the Dark Mark hanging in the sky over the castle.

If that was not enough to surprise Hagrid, however, a sudden, green pulse rose from out of the Great Hall and into the Dark Mark before leaving it and incinerating an invisible dome that was the Hogwarts wards. Right behind the line of incineration, another pulse resonated out of the Great Hall and formed a dome around Hogwarts, replacing the fallen wards except these new wards were green.

Hagrid then saw many billows of dark smoke exit out of the Entrance Hall and into the sky followed by one that left out of the hole in the Great Hall.

The half giant then heard shuffling behind him and turned as quickly as he could, bringing his crossbow to bear.

"Easy there! We're friendly!" An auror said as he and a dozen others emerged out of the forest.

"Sorry about that, but we couldn't get in through the floos. We figured something had gone terribly wrong and decided to come in through the Dark Forest." The same auror explained as they approached.

In the coming hours, the aurors and Hagrid would discover the rest of Hogwarts stunned inside the Great Hall and then awakened with many awakening spells. The aurors would then get statements from everyone present over what happened, and the students and staff would head off to bed with more and more aurors pouring into the Great Hall, scouring over the configuration that the Death Eaters had used to eliminate the legendary wards that supported Hogwarts, even if they were less old than they were ten years ago.

At exactly twelve a.m. the entire hall was void of any life excluding the many aurors who were still examining when a couple more of their brethren entered the hall. Without warning, the lines of magic and the symbols marked on the stone as well as the one in the sky grew slightly before the Dark Mark in the sky flew downward and into the Great Hall as a beam of magic. When it arrived at the center of the Great Hall, it exploded outward, blasting fire out of the hole in the roof as well as the doors of the Great Hall and killing every auror inside.

The blast was so large that it awakened the entire castle once more as the previously green dome surrounding the castle fell like its predecessor had.

"Sir, the runic scheme was detonated. The Great Hall was filled with over twenty-five aurors and no civilians."

"Good. They cannot help but acknowledge our promise." Harry replied in his office chair.

**AN: Hope that this filled your need for a new chapter and some action (to say the least) and that you are enjoying this. As always, I want everyone to know that reviews are always very appreciated. **_**Occidere Prima Vel Occidi.**_


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